Our Quirky Family
by Demonic Daydreams
Summary: One day, your Father wakes you up and tells you to pack for a surprise trip to Russia. Little did you know that once the plane touched down in Moscow, your life would forever change. Russia, America, Hungary, Prussia and just about every other country x Child!Reader. Enjoy the cuteness! Rated T for the OCs that show up in Chapter 6's colorful language.
1. Of Countries and Nightmares

You clutched your Father's hand tightly and nervously as you stood outside of a large wooden door, hearing the sound of fighting going on inside. This was really, really weird. Your Father, one morning, told you to pack your bags because you were going to Russia for a bit. When you got here, you saw him talk to a few weird looking people at the airport, like one really tall guy with light blondish hair and violet eyes and another guy who wore a leather jacket with a plane on the sleeve, a star over his heart and a big number 50 printed on the back. The man with the jacket also had glasses and spoke really loud.

Then, your Father drove you to a big house and led you to a room, telling you that's where you'd be staying for a bit. You'd collapsed on the bed and fallen asleep. The next morning, your Father woke you up really early, told you to get dressed and then drug you down here. And now here you were, terrified of what lied beyond that door. He told you to sit in the hall and wait for him. He let go of your hand and walked inside just as a man, with a thick German accent, shouted at everyone to shut up. The door slowly closed behind your Father and then, the room was silent. You stood there, staring wide-eyed at the door, waiting for your Father to come out. Then, the door slowly opened. The first person to step out was a woman, wearing a dress similar to a maid's. She had long brown hair and kind green eyes. She also had a flower in her hair, which you thought was really pretty. When she spotted you, she smiled softly and walked over, kneeling in front of you.

"Hi sweetie, your Father sent me out here to watch you. I'm Elizabeta but you can call me Lizzie, Eliza or Hungary if that's easier." She said kindly, looking into your (e/c) eyes.

"Hi Lizzie! I'm (y/n)." You said with a little giggle at the end. This lady seemed nice so you decided to trust her. Besides, she kinda reminded you of your Mom who'd passed away about a year ago.

"(Y/n)? That's a wonderful name!" She said, giving another kind smile.

"Awww…You're so cute~! I could probably give you one of my old dresses and it'd fit you perfectly." She said, tapping your nose with her finger. You wrinkled your nose and giggled again. You liked this lady, Elizabeta. You could tell you were going to get along with her.

Just when you were about to ask her another question, the doors flung open and a man with white hair and red eyes stepped through the doorway. "Losers," He growled at the closing doors.

"Did your brother kick you out again, Gil?" Eliza asked with a small smirk on her face.

He rolled his ruby red eyes. "Ja, he just cannot stand my awesomeness!" A smug grin spread across his face.

Eliza rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Right," she muttered. "(Y/n), this is Gilbert, the annoying ex-nation of Prussia."

Gil would've normally been insulted and commented back on how she left his 'awesomeness' out of the description, but he was so focused on you that he didn't care. Besides, he'd be able to bug Eliza about it later.

"Hallo," he said, bending down in front of you. "Well aren't you an adorable little thing."

You clung to Lizzie desperately, staring wide-eyed at the man before you, who seemed to resemble a vampire, like the ones your Father told stories about. Eliza chuckled softly.

"It's okay, he doesn't bite." She said with a tiny smile on her face.

You nodded and then looked back at the somewhat offended Prussian man.

"H-Hi…" You squeaked out. He cracked a tiny grin at you and said something but you didn't hear him. You were busy paying attention to the little ball of yellow fluff that had appeared at the top of his head.

"Hey, (y/n), what are you staring at?" He asked, finally snapping you out of your daze.

"What's that?" You said, pointing a chubby finger at the yellow blob on top of his head.

"Oh, Gilbird?" He asked, staring up at the top of his head. Reaching his hand up, the little ball of fluff jumped into his hand and he lowered it down to (y/n)'s face. "This is ze Awesome Gilbird. He's my little friend. You can pet him if you like." He said.

Tentatively, you reached out and touched the bird's head. It chirped softly and bounced, causing you to giggle. Then, the doors opened yet again and your Father stepped out.

"(Y/n), come with me. Oh, Eliza, could you watch her in the meeting? I have something I have to settle with Francis." Eliza nodded and scooped you up into her arms. You wrapped your arms around her neck and clung tightly to her, immediately remembering your fear of what lied beyond the door.

"It's okay, sweetie, nobody will hurt you." She whispered in your ear. Prussia then looked over at your Father.

"What about me?"

"Ludwig said you have to stay out here."

Prussia rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall, muttering stuff in German that you didn't understand. Then, Eliza carried you into the room. You immediately saw a bunch of people stare at you. There was the big tall man and the loud man from the airport, there was a man sitting at the head of the table with blond, slicked back hair and blue eyes. There was a person who sat next to him, his eyes shut and a blissful look on his face. You also noticed he had a little curl sticking out from the side of his head. Your eyes continued around the room, noticing very few women. There was one woman who had really big breasts and sort of grayish hair. When your eyes landed on her, she was sewing a button back into her shirt. The other woman you noticed was a girl, in a dress, who was standing in the corner, staring intently at the tall man from the airport; she was also twirling a knife in her hand, though she didn't seem to pay attention to it. You saw a lot of people that had weapons or people that looked scary and you didn't want to be here. You buried your face even more into Eliza's neck, hoping they'd all go away.

You let out a soft whimper and Eliza sighed sympathetically. She whispered something into your Father's ear, something you didn't catch. He whispered back and you could feel her freeze. You heard her ask for confirmation and you caught his next words, "Either introduce her to Ivan, Alfred, Feliciano or Lili. Lili would be a good person, another sweet girl for her to get to know…" Eliza then relaxed. You were then brought over to another part of the room. Eliza spoke with a man with blonde hair and a gun strapped to his back for a moment before taking you over to an area in the room where chaos was not erupting. There sat a girl with blonde hair, similar to the man's, and green, almost an aquamarine, eyes. She sat properly in the chair, her back straight, her body pulled up, and there was a tiny smile on her face as she looked over at the man who looked similar to her. You assumed that he was her brother or a close relative.

"Hello, Miss Hungary." She said in a sweet, quiet voice.

"Hello Lili. This is (y/n)." She said, tilting you a bit so that the girl could get a better look at you.

Her smile seemed to get a bit bigger and she stood up, straightening her dress a bit before looking back to you. "Hello, I'm Liechtenstein, but you can call me Lili."

"H-Hi," you squeaked out.

You had a small conversation with the girl before your Father finally called over to you and Eliza from across the room. The entire place fell silent at the sound of your Father's voice. He had that loud, booming voice that seemed to fill a room and make everyone listen, as if everything he said were an important announcement. Eliza set you on the floor and you put your tiny hand in hers as she walked over to your Father.

"Hey, pumpkin, I know you've met Eliza, Gilbert and Lili but there are a few more people I'd like you to meet, okay?" You nodded and then he took your hand. Eliza and your Father exchanged glances before she walked away, taking her seat at the table again. Then, the man at the head of the table cleared his throat.

"Since it is clear zhat Mr. (Last Name) will need to speak with a few of us, this meeting is dismissed. Mr. (Last Name), vould you like me to stay as well?"

You Father nodded.

"Yes, Ludwig, you and Feliciano should stay. The other countries know who they are." Ludwig nodded and took his seat yet again. After everyone else had filed out, the only people left in the room were Eliza, the man your Father had addressed as Ludwig, the tall man, the loud man, and the person with the curl. They all moved together, but everyone seemed to group together and then the tall man was one seat away from them. You wondered why this was so because he looked nice, despite the fact that he was really tall, even when he was sitting. He walked up and pulled a chair, facing it in a direction so that he could see all the people at the table.

"Hello everyone, by the way, thank you for staying behind for a bit. As you all know, the (last name) family has been deeply involved with the countries for many years and now the time has come for the next one in line to be introduced and begin being educated in the ways of the countries." They all nodded at your Father's words seriously, but that childish smile was still on the tall man's face. "So, first, let's go with introductions so (y/n) knows who you are and which country you represent. She already knows you, Eliza." Your newest friend, Eliza, nodded with a tiny, reassuring smile to you. "Ludwig, could you begin?"

The blonde nodded. "Ja, hallo, (y/n). I'm Ludwig and I represent the country of Germany."

"At least the west side!" Called a voice on the other side of the door. Ludwig sighed and furrowed his brow, closing his eyes. "Hungary?" He asked, and she nodded, grabbing a black skillet out of seemingly nowhere and stalking outside.

There was the creepy sound of "Kesesesesesese."

_**WHAM! **_

Then there was a thud. Two more weird, laugh-like sounds came from outside. "Fusososososososo~" and the one that really freaked you out, "Ohonhonhonhonhonhon~"

_**WHAM!**_

_**WHAM! **_

Two more thuds. Eliza walked back in and sat back down, straightening her skirt and setting her skillet under the table. "The Trio of Idiots is knocked out for at least the next hour."

Ludwig nodded. "Thank you, Hungary."

Hungary nodded. "It was no problem, now, the introductions?"

"Ja, I was just finishing up. Italy?" He questioned the man next to him in a gruff voice and the man mumbled something sleepily, it sounded like he said "pasta" but you weren't sure.

"Ve~ Hello, bella! I'm Feliciano but you can call me Feli! I represent half of Italy while my fratello, Romano, represents the other half."

"Where is he?" You questioned, tilting your head to the side curiously.

"Ah, it's best if you don't meet him right now." Your Father cut in.

Feliciano nodded vigorously before he commented, "Oh and Germany forgot to mention, if you can't say his name right, just call him Luddy~!"

You giggled sweetly and nodded, glancing over at the German whose face dusted with a light pink.

Then, it was the loud man from the airports turn. "Hey! I'm Alfred F. Jones and I represent America because I'M THE HERO!"

_**WHAM! **_

Eliza's skillet made contact with his head, not hard enough to knock him out but enough to hurt the poor, unsuspecting American.

"Hey," he whined. "What gives?" He rubbed his head where he was sure a bump would form. Eliza blew on her skillet like one would a recently fired gun before pointing it accusingly at him.

"Nobody wants to hear it right now, Alfred. Now, be quiet and let Russia introduce himself so I can get back to my yaoi—I mean cleaning the house." She cut herself off mid sentence and the American raised an eyebrow.

You would've asked what 'yaoi' was but Eliza gained a light glare from your Father when she'd said that so you decided to leave the topic alone…for now. Then, it came to the final man. The tall one. When it was his turn, his childish smile widened and he gave one of those cute little closed eye smiles.

"Hello, sunflower~ I am Ivan and I represent Russia."

You nodded to the man and smiled back, making many of the others in the room nervous…for some reason. Still, you then turned and looked at them with wide, curious young eyes.

"Hi," you managed to say around your shyness. Eliza smiled widely and even your Father's lips had a trace of a smile.

"Alright everyone," your father said, his voice getting a bit quieter. He then looked down at you. "I guess I should explain what's going on." Then, your father launched into the explanation, of who these people are, what these people were doing here, etc. You remained calm and quiet as he spoke, sometimes asking other countries questions, most of them pertaining to the other people who'd been in the room earlier. To the countries dismays but your father's delight, you were taking a liking to Russia and, by the end of his explanations of the countries, you were sitting in front of Russia on the table, his hand mindlessly combing through your hair. Now it was time for your questions.

"Lizzie," you began, choosing your words carefully. "Who were those people you knocked out in the hall?"

Elizabeta rolled her eyes. "Well, you know Prussia, and then there were his two friends, Antonio, who represents Spain, and Francis who represents France. You'll probably be meeting Spain later on but, I hope, you won't have to meet France at all in your life."

"Why?"

Eliza then found herself stuck between a rock and a hard place. She couldn't really tell a child why they should avoid France, could she?! Sighing she replied, "Just know that you don't want to meet him. I'll explain when you're older."

You gained a confused look on your face but you nodded anyway. You had a few more questions to ask before, eventually, some of the other countries had to leave.

"I have to make sure bruder doesn't destroy ze house." Ludwig said and, following the blond like a puppy, Feliciano trailed behind him.

Eliza eventually had to excuse herself but, before she did, she walked over to you and planted a little kiss on your nose. You wrinkled it and giggled quietly. She then hugged you. "I'll see you at the next meeting, which is in Hungary, by the way." You nodded vigorously and smiled at Lizzie. "Alright, I'll see ya soon. Watch out for Natalya when you're around Russia, okay?" You nodded. You gave her one last hug before she reluctantly left.

That left just you, your father, Alfred and Ivan. You were still sitting right in front of Ivan but, somehow, Alfred managed to scoot over one seat so that he was sitting next to the Russian, but you could see him just barely shaking. This made you curious. Why were all these people afraid of Ivan? He was really sweet!

"So, (y/n), I have a job now, working with the countries."

"That's great, Father!" You said, smiling widely at him. Another tiny, sad smile appeared on his face.

"But, I'll be traveling a lot. That means you'll be staying with the countries when I'm out on business, since you know my…relationship with your Mother's family isn't the best right now."

You sighed softly and nodded. The last time Grandma and Grandpa had visited was last Christmas…a few days before your Mother had died.

"So, you'll probably be spending a lot of your time with Alfred, Ivan, Ludwig, and since you take such a liking to her, Hungary." You smiled widely, happy that you'd be able to see all those people again. "I'll make sure to visit when I can; the schedule with the countries is already set up. You'll be heading home with Alfred, since I have some business here in Russia to deal with."

You sighed softly and nodding, keeping your (e/c) away from his…Here he goes again, dropping you off on someone else. In the mere four years of your life so far, your Father has dropped you off and handed you off to person after person and now he was doing it again? He continued on to talk about minding your manners and being respectful to the countries but, honestly, you tuned it all out. At some point during his lecture, you yawned widely and rubbed your big (e/c) eyes. He stopped mid-sentence and sighed softly. Then, he looked over at America.

"Alfred? Could you take her back home?" The American nodded, the goofy grin that was usually on his face now becoming a soft smile as he stood and picked you up. He then ruffled your hair with his gloved hand. He smiled and waved to Russia and your Father before stepping out of the room, knowing where he had to go. He looked down at your head that was on his shoulder and chuckled softly.

"I guess attending your first world meeting being only four years old will tire you out." He said, smiling at you.

You nodded and yawned again, struggling to keep your eyes open. You then managed to pull back and look at him. "Alfie," you mumbled sleepily. He let out a soft "hm" which meant for you to continue. "Why is everyone afraid of Ivan?"

He stopped dead in his tracks, frozen. Glancing down at you, he sighed softly. "Russia is a big country, nobody has conquered Russia. You'll learn a lot more about his history when you go to live with him for weeks at a time. Everyone's afraid of him because…Well, he's an intimidating country…and rather creepy."

"B-But…" You would've continued but you yawned again and you let your head slump against his shoulders. Then, you started to giggle.

"What are you giggling about?" Alfred asked, chuckling himself.

"I was jus' thinkin' about when Eliza and Gil were arguin' in the hall…They do a really bad job at coverin' up their feelins' for each other, don't they? They really are best friends, aren't they?"

Alfred laughed loudly, almost doubling over from laughter. "What? What did I say?" You asked.

"Nothing, nothing at all. You have a lot to learn, (y/n)."

"What do ya' mean?"

"I'll tell you on the plane ride back, okay?"

You nodded weakly, excitement now coursing through you. You loved learning, especially about these people. They were so…fun, kind, sweet and you just loved _them. _Not as the nations they represent, but the actual person.

Eventually, Alfred carried you out to a car and drove you to the airport.

"W-What about my stuff that I left there?" You asked, looking at him with wide eyes.

"That's going to stay there so you have clothes when you go to Russia and spend next month with him, okay?" You nodded and then sighed.

The rest of the night seemed to travel in a blur. You'd fallen asleep on the drive to the airport and Alfred ended up carrying you onto the plane. Thankfully, Ivan had gotten a private jet for the two of you, making all this much easier for Alfred. Airports and flying made the American very nervous, if he wasn't the one piloting the plane. Ever since 9/11 he'd been scared to death of airports, airport security and flying. Private jets made him much calmer but there was still that fear, that little voice in the back of his head that kept him from getting any rest during the flights.

**_- Le Time Skip To Ten Hours Later, Still On The Plane -_**

"(Y/n)," Alfred said, shaking your shoulder. You groaned and turned away from the American, not wanting to wake up.

"C'mon, (y/n), the plane's going to land in twenty minutes."

"Then lemme' sleep another tweny' minutes." Your voice was muffled and slurred from sleep.

"No, you have to be awake soon."

"Nuuu!" You protested, whining loudly. He sighed and crossed his arms, looking at you and thinking for a minute.

"C'mon, pleaaaaaaaaaaase wake up?" Alfred whines in a tone matching yours.

You glanced at the American out of the corner of your eye and pouted, he imitated the pout, causing you to giggle.

"Alright, I'm up!" You said, rolling your eyes at him.

"Good, now…you might want to brush your hair."

"Why?"

"It looks like you had a family of squirrels nesting in it." He said, grabbing a mirror and showing you your reflection.

He wasn't lying when he said your hair was bad. In fact, what he'd said was an understatement. Curse your awful bed head! You blamed your mother for this…You had the same hair type as her, (thin/thick) (h/c) hair that was _awful _to manage in the morning.

You grabbed your white, compact brush out of your pocket (you always carried it with you because your Father always told you to keep your hair brushed and clean and your clothes neat). You then began the painful process of dragging the brush through your mane.

"Owwie…" You mumbled when you finished, looking at the brush in your hand. Clumps of your (h/c) hair remained entangled in the brush and had been pulled out during the process of taming the unruly mess.

About ten minutes later, the plane landed and Alfred seemed to relax when he stepped out of the airport.

Then, Alfred drove you to where he lived. Now, you were expecting either a normal home or a mansion, like Russia's, but you were slightly confused when he pulled up to what appeared to be an apartment building. He smiled widely and got out of the car, pulling his bag from the trunk and then getting you out of the car. He easily held you in one arm while the other hand gripped his suitcase.

The two of you took an elevator to the top floor and your eyes widened. The elevator let out in the living room, there was a large staircase to your left and the entire wall next to the staircase seemed to be nothing but a window. The staircase lead into a hallway and that was all you could see upstairs from where you stood. There were two couches; put together to make a sort of sideways 'L' shape, there was a table with a lamp on it connecting the two tables. There was a large, flat screen T.V set up just across from where you were standing. It was resting on a stand and there was many, many game consoles beneath it. You guessed that the American liked video games because he had a huge stack of them for each console as well as a few boxes underneath the T.V stand. He also had a small table in front of the couches where a laptop rested, a charging cord extending from the wall and plugged into the device. Glancing over to your right, you saw a curtain but you didn't know what was behind it. Next to the curtained area there was an archway that leads to the kitchen.

"Wow!" You exclaimed, your brown eyes wide.

He chuckled softly. "Glad you like it." He then told you that behind the curtain there was a movie room, and he showed you around the place. Your bedroom was upstairs, right next to his, and there was a door bathroom in between the two of them that both rooms lead into. Across the hall from you was an empty bedroom that was used as a guest room, and then another room next to it where America stored all of his superhero comics and movies.

Since it was the summer right now and you had Alfred watching you, you got to stay up a bit later. The two of you stayed in the movie room he had (which had a like, mini-movie screen that you thought was AWESOME) and watched a bunch of random superhero movies and ate pizza for dinner. He did make sure that you didn't eat too much though, even though he ate a whole large pizza himself.

'_Nations must have big appetites._' You thought.

When the last movie you'd been watching, _Thor_, ended, he turned the screen off and flipped the light on.

"Time for bed, munchkin." He said, and you frowned a bit at the nickname.

"I'm not a munchkin," you grumbled and he laughed softly.

"You barely come up to my knees, you're a munchkin. Now, head up and get ready for bed."

"What about PJs?"

"Just look in your closet." He said, heading upstairs to change into his own Pjs. You scrambled up the steps behind him, not wanting to get lost in this huge place. He then walked into his bedroom and looked over his shoulder, seeing you peering into the room. He chuckled and crossed his arms.

"Go on to your room, everything's set up, okay?" You nodded and then walked over to your room. When you opened it, your eyes went as wide as dinner plates.

**((A/N : I suggest going to my deviantART 'Hairbun503' to get the picture of the bedroom in the description of 'Our Quirky Family'))**

The room was beautiful. You loved it! It was all (favorite color) and definitely your style. Walking across from the bed, you saw a big (favorite color) door and pulled it to the side, revealing a walk-in closet. Your eyes went even wider. One side had some of your favorite outfits from home that you hadn't packed, though there were a bunch missing, ones that you hadn't packed. You wondered where they'd gone before you glanced to the other side of the closet. A few of your favorite pairs of Pjs from home hung on that side as well as one that you didn't recognize but you immediately loved. It was a (favorite color) nightgown and it looked really silky. It had short sleeves that kinda poofed up and the hem and neckline had frilly white lace. It was so cute!

You walked over and saw a note hanging from it. Grabbing the note, you slowly read it.

'_These are for you, (y/n), Eliza and Katyusha helped me pick it out. I hope you like it. _

_Your Father, (Father's Name).'_

You smiled widely but you had to wonder…Who was this Katyusha? You tried to remember her name but you couldn't…A tiny frown grazed your features before you smiled again and stripped, pulling on the nightgown and then scurrying into the bathroom through the little door in your room, next to the cabinet. Just as you walked in you saw Alfred finishing up brushing his teeth. He smiled over at you and rinsed his mouth before kicking a sort of plastic stool over in front of one of the faucets on the double sink. He handed you your toothbrush from home and the toothpaste.

You quickly brushed your teeth and then he tucked you in, making sure that you were comfortable before finally going back into his room.

_**- Le Time Skip -** _

You tossed and turned in your bed, groaning in your sleep as a cold sweat coated your body. "No," you muttered. "No…" you tossed and turned again in your nightmare induced fit. You were still sound asleep but you wished that you could wake up. Suddenly, you screamed out, "NO!" Your eyes remained shut tightly as the horrific scene of your nightmare played out.

You heard a quick thumping and someone called out your name. You recognized it as Alfred's voice. Then, you felt yourself being shaken, your name called again and again. Finally, you eyes snapped open with a scream. When you saw Alfred's worried blue eyes gazing into yours with concern, you latched onto the American for dear life, sobbing into his shoulder.

"I-It was so scary! A-A-And *hic* so REAL!" You choked out between sobs.

He held you tightly in his arms against his chest, whispering soothing words to you.

"Shhh, shhh…It'll be okay. It was all just a dream, darlin'."

Oh, there goes his Southern accent. It happens when he doesn't look out for it. He usually just covers it up around the other countries, and, of course, England also doesn't exactly like the Southern way of speaking, so he tries to watch his Southern accent around the Brit, if only to shut him up for a minute.

You just kept crying. You didn't like what you'd seen in that dream. Your Mother, your Father, Alfred, Eliza, Ivan, Ludwig, Feliciano…all of them just disappeared and you were left walking around a blank, black room that never ended, calling their names.

"Shhh…" Then, Alfred did something that he hadn't done for a long time.

_"Come stop your crying_

_It will be alright_

_Just take my hand_

_Hold it tight_

_I will protect you from all around you_

_I will be here_

_Don't you cry,"_

You immediately recognized the song…You and your Father had watched all the Disney movies as many times as you could. But, he never sang this song to you, no matter how much you loved it. He said he wasn't a singer…Your Mother, on the other hand, would sit at the piano and play your favorite Disney songs…This calmed you, but you still sniffled and cried. And Alfred continued his singing.

_"For one so small, you seem so strong_

_My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm_

_This bond between us_

_Can't be broken I will be here_

_Don't you cry_

_'Cause you'll be in my heart_

_Yes, you'll be in my heart_

_From this day on_

_Now and forever more_

_You'll be in my heart_

_No matter what they say_

_You'll be here in my heart, always_

_Why can't they understand the way we feel_

_They just don't trust what they can't explain_

_I know we're different but, deep inside us_

_We're not that different at all_

_And you'll be in my heart_

_Yes, you'll be in my heart_

_From this day on_

_Now and forever more_

_Don't listen to them_

_'Cause what do they know_

_We need each other, to have, to hold_

_They'll see in time I know_

_When destiny calls you_

_You must be strong cause I may not be with you_

_But you've got to hold on_

_They'll see in time I know_

_We'll show them together cause_

_You'll be in my heart_

_Yes, you'll be in my heart_

_From this day on,_

_Now and forever more_

_Oh, you'll be in my heart_

_No matter what they say_

_You'll be in my heart, always_

_Always I'll be with you._

_When I'll be there for you always_

_Always and always_

_Just look over your shoulder_

_Just look over your shoulder_

_Just look over your shoulder_

_I'll be there for you always_

_Always."_

As the song drew to a close and the last note died off, Alfred kissed the top of the head.

"I'll protect you from the nightmares. You have to trust me from now on, okay?"

You nodded and whimpered, clinging tightly to him still.

"C-Can I sleep with you tonight?" He smiled down at you, his blue eyes soft and kind.

"Sure," he said, picking you up and carrying you back into his room. Once he lay down, you curled up into his chest, your eyes shut tightly and your little fists balled up in his white shirt. He still had his strong arms wrapped around you, as if being a human shield against the nightmares. He kissed your head again.

"G'night," he whispered.

You yawned and then shut your eyes, whispering in reply, "Night night…Daddy…"


	2. Scars and Sunflowers

The next morning, you woke up to find the bed next to you empty.

"Daddy?"

No answer.

"Daddy~?"

…

"Downstairs!"

You breathed a sigh of relief. You were scared that your nightmare had come true for a moment. Hopping out of bed, you scrambled down the stairs and immediately the smell of pancakes hit your nose. You breathed in deeply and smiled, following the scent and eventually tracking it back to the kitchen. You saw Daddy America at the table, drinking a cup of coffee while reading his e-mail but then you saw…another person, making pancakes. You looked at the man curiously, wondering who he was. He wore just a pair of jeans and a white shirt…Nothing flashy or over the top. He was quiet and there was just the hint of a smile on his face. As he moved, a little curl on the top of his head bounced. He also had really unique, and beautiful, blue-violet eyes.

Figuring you'd had enough of staring at the stranger; you walked over to Daddy and poked his leg. He looked down over at you and smiled.

"Hey, (y/n)." He said, pushing his chair out and letting you climb up onto his lap. The stranger looked back over at you as he finished piling the last of the pancakes onto a large plate.

"T-They're d-done…" He stuttered out quietly.

"Thanks, Mattie." Daddy America replied, smiling at him. He then looked down and saw the confusion on your face, facepalming mentally. You hadn't been introduced to him at the world meeting and America had forgotten.

"(Y/n), this is your Uncle Mathew. He represents…uh…"

"Canada." Your uncle said quietly. You smiled widely and nodded.

"Oh, Mother used to take me there a lot when Father was out on business. We always had a lot of fun!" You said, giggling. You then hopped off of America's lap and went over to Mathew, holding your hand up. "I'm (y/n). It's nice to meet you Uncle Mattie!"

He smiled down at you and shook your tiny hand before turning around and grabbing three plates from the cabinet.

"Y-You w-want s-some?" He asked, glancing back down at you.

You nodded vigorously. You loved pancakes! Before your Mother had died, you would have pancakes every morning because your Mother was an amazing cook. You went to the table and pulled out a chair, hopping onto it and waiting until the pancakes were served. Daddy America set aside the laptop and Uncle Mattie sat down, you all then dug into your pancakes. Soon enough, the entire stack that had been laid out was gone and you were all happily full.

After breakfast, Daddy cleaned the dishes while you and Uncle Mattie watched My Little Pony. Half way through the episode, Daddy walked out and looked at you, still in your pjs.

"You, missy, have to go upstairs and get dressed." He said, leaning in the archway between the kitchen and the living room.

"But Daddy—"

"No 'buts'. Go up and get dressed, we have things that have to be done today." He said his voice was stern but a hint of kindness was behind it. He locked his blue eyes with your (e/c) eyes and you knew you couldn't argue with him, not like he would let the argument go much further than that.

Sighing, you slid off the couch and slowly walked up to your room, insistent on taking your own sweet time. You could hear Daddy sigh behind you.

"You have seven minutes to get dressed, brush your teeth and your hair, and get back down here or I won't take you to see Hungary next week." You glanced back down the stairs at him, your eyes wide.

"You wouldn't…" You muttered.

"I would."

You shot a weak glare at him before scrambling up the stairs and heading into your room to change.

After you were upstairs, Mathew looked over at his twin.

"Don't you th-think you were a li-little harsh o-on her, eh?"

America only shook his head. "Naw…Besides, she'll be going to stay at Germany's after her month at the commie's place, remember?"

Mathew nodded slowly.

"Y-Yeah…I hope she does alright…M-Moving from c-country t-to country." He said softly, staring blankly at the T.V but not really watching it.

"Well, its better that she have some sort of stable home setting than being with her Mother's crazy relatives."

Mathew nodded immediately, looking back over at Alfred. What he saw shocked him. Alfred wasn't grinning, or shouting, or laughing…or even smiling…He just had a neutral expression on his face as he stared up at the top of the stairs. He hadn't seen his brother like this in a long while…the last time he'd seen Alfred like this was the last time there'd been a girl in your family line that he'd cared for, which had been nearly sixty years ago.

And he had to admit, he liked seeing Alfred like this...

- - - - - - - - - - HEY LOOK, IT'S BELARUS! - - - - - - - - - -

The rest of the day went by all too quickly. Soon, that day became a week, and that week became a month. During your time with Daddy, Eliza had visited once, just as Daddy had said she would. When she did, the two of you had a lot of fun. She brought you a bunch of her old dresses and had you try them on. She told you about some of the other countries that you hadn't gotten a chance to meet like Kiku, or Japan, and Arthur, or England. She showed you old pictures of her with your old family members, and tiny portraits of her and her ex-husband, Roderich. When you drew pictures, she was delighted and said you should save it to show Feli next time you saw him. She'd also started to teach you Hungarian, so that way you'd be able to speak with the people in her country when you visited. The language was really hard, you'd admit, so she only started off by teaching you some little things that were easy for children.

On the morning of September 1st, Daddy woke you up and told you to get ready to go to Russia's. You knew about the schedule but you were still upset that you had to leave Daddy's place behind for a few months. When you arrived at the airport, you boarded a private jet. Just as America was about to board, he got a call from his Boss…He was needed in Washington D.C which meant you were going to be on the plane…alone. He apologized repeatedly before getting another call asking him if he was on his way. You stared out the window at the plane took off, a sad look in your eyes. Well…this ten hour flight was going to be a lonely one.

You curled up in your seat, holding your white, polar bear stuffed animal that Uncle Mattie had given you tightly to your chest. You fell asleep quickly, having a calm, quiet dream about Daddy, Uncle Mattie, and Big Sis Eliza.

- - - - HEY LOOK, IT'S BELARUS! Ten hours and thirty minutes later - - - - - - - - - -

You found yourself waking up in someone's arms, being carried as if you were a precious china doll. You felt cold…really cold. You snuggled closer to the person who was carrying you. You recognized the fabric of the coat…It was a tan color and you were being cradled right next to his chest, allowing you to see the pin that hung there. It was Ivan, the Russian country had you scheduled for the next month, then Hungary and then Germany, and then the cycle would repeat…unless something happened to the nation, then you'd just be moved on to the next country in the schedule. You groaned quietly and shivered, snuggling even closer to the large country.

"Oh, you're awake, da?" He asked, looking down when he felt you move. His childish voice made you smile a tiny bit, you always loved the sound of it…You didn't know why the other nations were scared of him. He was so nice!

You only groaned quietly as your reply. While the weather was only mild, you were still cold…Probably because you got cold so easily. You always slept with two or three blankets and you always wore a sweater or hoodie, unless it was unbearably hot.

"We'll be home soon, мой подсолнух." He said to you when he noticed your fidgeting.

Once you two arrived home, he set you down and gave you that happy, closed-eye smile.

"This will be your home every other month but it's also very big so I want to make sure you don't get lost, da? So no exploring the house unless someone's with you."

You nodded to him just as you heard a sound come from somewhere in the house.

"Big Brother."

The both of you froze. Eliza had told you that if you ever heard those words at Russia's house, you run like the wind and lock yourself in your room. But, you were frozen. You knew whose voice that was. Natalya Arlovskaya, Ivan's insane little sister. You'd heard stories about her, how she was obsessed with her brother 'becoming one' with her and how she wanted to marry him.

You saw as Natalya appeared in the hallway, staring at Ivan…That was, until her eyes landed on you. They narrowed dangerously as she pulled out a knife from behind her back.

"Big Brother, who is this?"

You could see Ivan begin to shake. Wait…She scared him that much? How could someone like her, so much smaller than him, scare him? She was his little sister too! She shouldn't treat him that way!

"Hey!" You yelled, stepping in front of Ivan and crossing your arms. You stomped your foot and glared at her. "You shouldn't be so mean! And, even though you don't like it, I'm going to be around here a lot! So leave me and Ivan alone!" Both Ivan and Natalya stared blankly at you. Then, Belarus began to walk toward you. You stood your ground, a steel glare on your face. Ivan tried to tell Natalya to stay away, that you were just a kid, but his arguments fell on deaf ears. Once Natalya reached you, she knelt down, her violet eyes meeting your defiant (e/c) eyes. Then, her lips twitched upward, a slightly sadistic smile on them.

"You have bravery, that's good. You'll need to be brave and tough to be my niece." She said, poking your chest.

You smiled widely and mischievously. She put the knife away, somewhere in her skirts, before standing up.

"Come, I'll show you to your new room." She said, nodding toward the staircase as she crossed her arms.

"But…Isn't this Ivan's house? How do you know where the room is?"

Belarus glanced back at the still dumbfounded Russian and grinned.

"I spend much of my time here. Now, come." She started up the stairs and you quickly followed behind her, tripping over your own feet. Each time you did, she'd glance back at you and wait for you to stand back up. Not once did she help you. She simply watched. You didn't know why she didn't help her until maybe the third time you tripped. Then, it dawned on you. She was trying to make you tough. She wasn't going to baby you like Daddy or Uncle Mattie did. When you finally reached your room, you glanced back and saw Ivan following the two of you…at a distance. You guessed he was still scared of you.

As you stepped into the room, you saw a bed with thick, fluffy white blankets. The walls were painted light blue with clouds with sunflowers sprouting up from the bottom of the wall, rising to be taller than you. There was a desk in front of a window across from the foot of your bed; there was also a vanity along the right wall and a closet to the left, near your desk. The room was definitely smaller than your room at Daddy's…but you liked this one just as much. It gave you this sense of…peace and calm.

"I love it!" You squealed jumping on the bed and staring up at the clouds painted on the ceiling. The corners of Natalya's mouth twitched upward.

"I'm happy you like it." Both you and Natalya jumped at Ivan's voice.

He must've swallowed his fear to come and make sure you were okay. How sweet of him!

You glanced between Ivan and Natalya. Ivan, who had his cute, closed eyed smile on his face again and Natalya with the corners of her lips twitching upward into the tiniest of smiles, though she would deny it if anybody asked. Your smile grew just a bit wider.

"I think I'm gonna like it here." You said with a nod.

You heard a phone ring in the house and Ivan excused himself, going off to answer it. You then saw Natalya looking over you with her violet eyes, cold and calculating.

"What?" You asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing…" She muttered, and then glanced at the clock.

"It is very late, you should get some sleep. There are pajamas in the closet for you. Big Brother will be around to check on you once he finishes his phone call."

"M'kay~" You chimed, jumping off the bed and going into your closet. Natalya then left the room, closing the door and then leaning against it. Slowly, a smile worked its way onto her lips.

"I've always wanted a little sister." She muttered, her eyes closing as she spoke. Then, she turned and walked back downstairs and to the basement to sharpen her knives.

- - - - - - - - - - HEY LOOK, IT'S BELARUS! - - - - - - - - - -

Ivan slowly opened the door, poking his head in to see you tossing, turning and huffing on your bed. A small frown immediately plastered onto his lips. Why were you tossing like that? Eventually, you huffed loudly and sat up, staring at the window with blank eyes. A light flashed in the window and he caught a gleam on your eyes and cheeks. You were crying. Immediately, he walked in and sat on the bed next to you and placing a large hand on your tiny shoulder.

"What's wrong, мой подсолнух?" He asked softly.

You sniffed and wiped away the tears with the back of your hand, only to have them replaced a moment later.

"I-I fell homesick…I miss my home back in (insert random city here), the little house that we had there, the garden we had in the back yard, the kids in the neighborhood that I played with even though they were older then me…Everything."

You murmured before starting to cry again.

"I want my Father! I want Daddy or Uncle Mattie here! I-I…" You wouldn't say it…You wouldn't…You swore you wouldn't cry over her anymore.

"I WANT MY MOTHER BACK!"

You yelled, collapsing into a ball of sobs. You then felt Ivan's big, strong arms wrap around you and pull you close to his chest. He had an arm that was keeping you close to him while the other hand rubbed circles on your back or ran through your (h/l) (h/c) hair.

"Shhh… мой подсолнух, I know you miss them, it's only natural. But, you have to make do with what you have now…You have me…a-and Belarus." You could tell that last part was added reluctantly, but it was there all the same.

"When you're in Russia, I—we…we'll take care of you, I promise." He whispered, kissing the top of your head.

You snuggled closer to the huge nation, wrapping your tiny arms around his neck, which was still covered by a pinkish scarf. You wiped your eyes with the back of your arm and then asked, "What's this?"

"Oh, my scarf? It was a gift from my big sister, Ukraine."

"…what's her name…?"

"Katyusha….why do you ask?" He asked, looking down at you with a curious look.

A look of realization spread onto your face and you smiled softly. "No reason…I just have to thank her if I see her." The last part was mumbled so quietly, Ivan wasn't able to hear it. A tiny yawn was drawn from you and you laid your head on his shoulder.

He softly hummed a lullaby to you, murmuring the Russian lyrics. Even though you didn't understand a word of it, the song soothed you…It made you sleepy. The lullaby slowly drew to a close, the last note seeming to linger in your ears a bit longer.

You yawned softly as he set you down on the bed and pulled the covers over you.

"Спокойной ночи, my little sunflower." He said sweetly, brushing a bit of your hair away from your face.

"Night night…Papa…" You mumbled as you fell asleep.

- - - - - - - - - - HEY LOOK, IT'S BELARUS! - - - - - - - - - -

It was the end of the first week at the Russian's home and you pretty much had a good idea on how things worked around here. You woke up to hear pounding on the door at the end of the hall and sighed. Another morning, another time to stop Natalya from scaring your Papa. Seriously, you were only four years old but ever since you'd spent time around Hungary and Natalya, you acted a lot older. You hopped out of your bed and, after changing out of your PJs into a long sleeved yellow dress, opened the door, grumbling to yourself about having to deal with the crazy Russian and Belarusian each morning.

"Цётка Natalya!" You shouted, using one of the few words in Belarusian she'd taught you to get her attention. She glanced back at you and glared.

"Go away; this is not your business."

"Yes, it is! You woke me up!" You replied, walking completely out of your room and closing the door.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, taking her knife out of the door. "Fine, but you will not stop me tomorrow, малютка." She said, turning to you and crossing her arms, the knife still firmly gripped in her hand.

"Yes, I will, Auntie Natalya." You said. You decided that, instead of starting an argument with your knife-loving violence-prone aunt, to change the subject. Your eyes landed on her knife, seeing that it wasn't as sharp as her others. This was curious, seeing as she sharpened them each night, you should know, you've watched her. "Auntie, it looks like your knife is getting dull." You said, your voice holding only a hint of curiosity.

"What?"

"Look," you walked up to her and pointed to multiple nicks on the blade that you'd noticed as well as pointing out that the blade wasn't as sharp as the other knifes you usually saw her use. When you finished, she just nodded tersely.

"So it is…You're smart for your age…Too smart…"

"I spend too much time around nations." You muttered, crossing your arms and sending her a mischievous smile.

Natalya grinned crookedly back. She was growing to like you, which she thought was odd, seeing as she only cared for Big Brother. Just as she remembered something, her eyes narrowed and she let out a barely audible, irritated sigh.

"I have a meeting with my Boss today, so I'll be gone for a bit. Make sure Big Brother doesn't get into too much trouble." She told you sternly, her violet eyes watching you intently.

"You're telling this to the four year old." You said dryly. What did she expect you to do? Papa was a big nation; he could take care of himself! If anything, she should be telling Papa to watch you.

She glared down at you, her violet eyes making the glare all the more intimidating. "Watch that smart mouth, малютка. I'm not above physical punishment; I don't take kindly to back talk." She snarled coldly.

Your eyes widened. Was she…threatening you? You'd never heard of an adult doing such a thing…Except for your eight year old friend, Bethany, who's Mother would smack her hand lightly and give her a good scolding if she disobeyed them. But Natalya…You didn't know what she would do. She certainly wouldn't use her knives, you knew that much. If she hurt you like that, the other nations would certainly make sure she felt the same pain and do their best to kill her, even Ivan. You shrunk back at the thought of what Natalya was saying, scared of what your Aunt would do.

"Now you know what I meant, so don't get smart about it." She warned before going and walking downstairs. The door to Ivan's bedroom slowly opened to reveal the almost petrified Russian.

"Sh-she's gone, da?" Papa stuttered out, glancing down the hallway as he spoke.

You nodded slowly. "Y-yeah…" you murmured, slinking down against the wall and hugging your knees to your chest.

He stepped out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him before walking over, his hands behind his back. He bent over, looming over you. "What's wrong, мой подсолнух?"

While most children would find this scary, you didn't. You were used to it after a week. Besides, you knew he wouldn't hurt you…Though, after what happened with Natalya, you weren't so sure.

"Au-auntie Natalya said…something th-that really scared me…" You muttered, suddenly becoming interested in the wood flooring.

He tilted his head to the side, his violet eyes looking at you blankly.

"She's always scary, da?"

"N-No…Sh-she said…i-if I didn't w-watch my sm-smart mouth…she wasn't a-above p-ph-physical punishment." You couldn't keep yourself from stuttering. She'd terrified you! Physical punishment…nobody had ever threatened you like that, never…not even when Father was really mad at you.

By now, you were shaking as bad as Latvia did whenever he got himself into trouble.

"Sunflower, you should know not to anger Belarus. She also gets very on edge when she meets with her Boss…all of us do. It can bring out the worst in countries sometimes." Russia explained calmly, even though he was fuming inside. Natalya was coming very close to crossing the line.

"What do you mean?" You asked tentatively. What did he mean 'the worst in countries'? All the countries were really nice! Besides Belarus sometimes…But even she had a soft side. You couldn't imagine any of them hurting someone else! The dark, far off look that appeared in Russia's eyes scared you even more.

You sat back, trying to 'become one' with the wall. You didn't like this situation.

"I-It is just very bad, sunflower. You will learn when you are older." He said, reaching out his hand for you. You took it and, as expected, he pulled you up onto his shoulders. You clung to his neck tightly, not wanting to fall off. It scared you slightly, being this high up.

"Sunflower?" He asked, glancing up at you.

"Yes, Papa?" You mumbled, resting your chin on the top of his head.

"Help me with something, da?"

"Sure thing, Papa! What is it?" You asked, getting excited. There wasn't a lot of stuff that you could to do help around the house, being so little. You were either too small or too young to help but you loved helping, especially when they were being so kind to you.

His closed-eye smile appeared on his face again. "You'll see, Sunflower." He murmured.

- - - - - - - - - - HEY LOOK, IT'S BELARUS! - - - - - - - - - -

When you reached the place Ivan wanted to take you, your eyes widened. He had this tiny green-house inside his home and it was _full_ of sunflowers, almost all of them taller then you. You gasped, not even daring breathe. This was…was…beautiful. You knew that sunflowers were very precious to your Papa so it meant a lot for him to take you here and show you this.

"Wow…" You whispered breathlessly.

"You like, da?" He asked, looking up at you with a smile.

You nodded, not being able to speak.

"Would you like to help?" He asked.

Your eyes widened even more. Help…him...? Bu-but these were sunflowers! They were precious to Ivan…You looked over his head and into his violet eyes, seeing them full of kindness.

"Mhm! I'll help!" You replied, grinning widely.

Ivan then picked you off of his head, setting you gently onto the ground.

"Good." He said, nodding. He then walked over to a tall cabinet, opening it and grabbing a packet of seeds.

"You'll help me plant these, da? Then, when you visit, you can see how much they've grown."

You nodded, your feet glued to their spot. That would be so much fun! Each month you spent here, you'd be able to watch your sunflower grow.

Then, you watched as he took off his scarf and his large brown coat, folding them and setting them in a safe place. Your eyes went wide. He wore brown pants, boots, and just a plain shirt underneath but that's not what shocked you. All along his arms, on his neck, any place of exposed skin besides his face was covered in scars. There were some that were small…but there were others that were huge, that you knew continued under his clothing. Your eyes filled with tears, blurring your vision. You ran up to him and wrapped your arms around his legs, seeing as you didn't even reach the Russian's knees because you were still so small.

"Papa! You're hurting!" You cried out, the tears streaming down your face. He smiled sadly down at you and knelt, still a bit taller than you.

"Sunflower, (y/n)…They are just scars. They don't hurt anymore…Every nation has them."

You sniffled. Every nation? Even Big Sister Eliza and Daddy?

"Bu-But…who gave you these scars?" You asked, looking up at him. He put his hand on your cheek, brushing away the tears with his gloved thumb.

"The nations give them to each other, мой подсолнух."

"Wh-What?!" You blurted out, more tears going down your face. "Y-You hurt ea-each other? B-But…why!? You all…seem *hic* to get along!"

Russia's smile drooped just a bit, making the little curl of his lips that remained all the more sorrowful.

"We give them to each other through wars…We do not stand for just our land, but our people as well. And the nations don't always get along. The littlest things can make us fight and our fighting can turn into wars, all too easily." He brushed away even more of your tears and continued. "You'll learn this later on, мой подсолнух, from all the other nations…There are things in our past that we are not proud of. There are times when we were very different people…Monsters, even…Bloodthirsty, wanting more and more war, more bloodshed, more land…I am not proud of my past, I will admit. It is full of conflict and pain, even today. But there's nothing we can do to change the past, us countries acknowledge that…many just don't seem to learn…Which is why we still fight today, over problems both new and old."

You sniffled again and wiped away the last of your tears. Then, you leaned up and wrapped your arms around Ivan's neck, clinging tightly to him.

"I'm sorry you hurt before, Papa…But, when I get older, I'll try my hardest to keep you from hurting…even if you do hurt, I'll try to stop it." You whispered, burying your face into his neck and sniffling again.

Ivan smiled and wrapped an arm around you. He didn't have the heart to tell you that, no matter how hard one person tried, they can't stop a country from hurting. Once you recovered, you and Ivan went to the back and planted the sunflower together. When the both of you finished, you brushed the dirt off of your little yellow dress and smiled at the pile of dirt.

"Soon, this'll grow to be a big sunflower! And, when I come back, I'll see that it's grown, just like I will, right Papa?"

He smiled down at you. "Da."

He then plucked a single petal from a sunflower nearby and knelt down again, putting it in your hair. The color of the flower matched the dress you were wearing perfectly. You wrapped your arms around his neck.

"Thank you, Papa."

"You're welcome, мой подсолнух."


	3. A Night of Rain And Farewells

The rest of your month in Moscow was somewhat normal...well, er, as normal as it could ever be with Belarus and Russia. You still had to stop Belarus from breaking Papa's door each morning and you still had nightmares, almost every night. But each time you woke from a nightmare, Papa would be in your room, holding you and singing in Russian. Sometimes, he even let you sleep in his room or he'd sit by your bed and wait until you were asleep. During your last week there, you bonded even more with Aunt Natalya, which seemed to make Papa nervous. You didn't blame him, you knew that almost every nation was scared of Belarus because of her...obsession with marrying her older brother and her violent tendencies. But, you knew she was a good person on the inside! In fact, the night before you had to go to Hungary, you'd had a nightmare but, instead of Papa who came in, it was Aunt Natalya. She'd held you in her arms, sang to you, and even refused to leave the room until you were sound asleep.

But, eventually, your time at Papa's house had to draw to a close. Big Sis Eliza would be waiting for you, anyway. So, the next morning, you'd put on a little, short sleeved, light green dress and a pair of white tennis shoes. You put two, pastel green barrettes in your hair on the right side to keep this pesky little hunk of hair out of your face. For some reason, it kept falling in your eye and annoyed you to no end.

"You are ready, da?" Papa asked from the other side of the door. You grabbed your white stuffed bear and slid off the bed.

"Da!" You replied, opening the door. You grinned widely up at him and he gently picked you up, putting you on his shoulders like he usually did. By now, you'd grown used to this so you weren't as scared of it anymore. Though, you still didn't like being this high off the ground. When you got into the private jet, you were disappointed to hear that Aunt Natalya wouldn't be coming with. You didn't get to say goodbye to her...

Your depression was quickly forgotten, however, when you started to think about all the things that you and Big Sis Eliza would be able to do together.

- An Hour Later -

You finally landed in Budapest, Hungary. When you got off the place, you were immediately swept up into Eliza's arms.

"Hey, sweetie." She said, tapping your nose like she did at the world meeting. Then, she looked up to see Russia standing in the door of the plane. "Don't worry, she's in good hands, Russia!" She called to him, waving.

His usual smile grew wider and he nodded. Not long after saying goodbye to Papa, Eliza drove you to her home.

"I can tell you're going to like it here, there's a lot of interesting things to do." You bounced in your car seat eagerly, your eyes wide as you held your stuffed bear in a death grip.

"Really?" You asked excitedly.

"Mhm, really. Of course, there's stuff that you have to do before we get to the fun things but with me, it'll all be easy."

You gained a confused look as she said this. "What do you mean? What other stuff do we have to do?" You asked.

"Well, it's September, normally you start school. But, since you go from country to country, you have to be home schooled. But, trust me, if you take lessons from me, it's easy and quick, okay?" She explained, keeping her eyes on the road as she did.

You giggled and nodded. "Okay!" you replied, nodding and squeezing the white, stuffed polar bear in your arms.

Not even five minutes later, you pulled up to Hungary's house. It was a modest home, not to big or small, just average. You were happy about this...Even though you loved Papa and Daddy's homes, they were so big you were always scared of getting lost in them. She made her way out of the car and walked over to your side, unbuckling your seat belt since you were having trouble with the simple metal device. Once you hopped out of the car, she shut the door and followed after you, since you were running toward the door. Once she caught up to you, just feet from the porch, she scooped you up into her arms and growled playfully. You squealed, giggled and tried to squirm out of her grip.

"Gotcha!" She exclaimed, smiling widely and laughing herself.

"Okay, okay! You got me! Now...Put me down!" You whined, not really meaning it. You could already tell your time with Eliza was going to be fun. She chuckled softly before setting you down again. Then, she crossed her arms and grinned.

"Well...Let's get inside! You have to see your new room!" She said, leaning down and poking you in the stomach. You giggled again at the feeling. She was so sweet to you!  
Then, she turned on her heel and began to walk toward the house. You quickly scrambled after her.

-This TimeSkip is brought to you by Hungary's Frying Pan-

So, Eliza had shown you all around the house and now, here you both stood, in front of your bedroom door. You bounced excitedly while Eliza smiled down at you. She was finally going to show you your bedroom! She'd told you how much time she'd spent making it just right. Slowly, she turned the knob and the door creaked open. Your eyes went wide and you sucked in a breath. The room was painted a plain white with dark green vines spreading _everywhere._ Each vine had a multitude of flowers; tulips, roses, marigolds, cornflowers, and many more you couldn't name. There was a window to one side of the room, right across from the doorway. A desk was pushed up against the wall and a bookcase stood on the left side of it, already filled with books in both English and Hungarian. There was a dresser with a large mirror on the other side of the desk, as well.

Then there was the bed. It's headboard was pressed up against the right wall, and it was covered in white and dark green sheets. But, there was also a snowy white canopy that hung above it, draping down onto the bed. You stared for a full three minutes before squealing and attaching yourself to Eliza's leg.

"Thank you so much! I love it!" You exclaimed. Then, you let go of her and went into the room, jumping onto the bed and laughing.

You heard Eliza's mirth filled laugh from the doorway and turned your head to her, seeing that she was smiling at you, her green eyes sparkling. She came over and sat next to you on the bed, smiling at you softly.

"You're welcome. Besides, you'll be staying here a while so you might as well have a room you like, right?" She asked. You smiled and nodded.

"Now, let's start your lessons, okay?"

"Okay~" You chimed, hopping off the bed and walking to the desk.

-Time Skip Brought to you by Hungary's Frying Pan-

So, it had been three weeks and you were exhausted. Living at Hungary's house was crazy. There were the required lessons, as well as your Hungarian lessons, on top of the Belarusian and Russian work that Papa and Aunt Natalya sent with you. Roderich, Eliza's ex-husband, also insisted on teaching you how to play piano. It was a lot for a four year old to take, but you managed. Life was good, though. Not like the days after Mother died, of course.

After Mother died, Father was constantly busy and you were stuck with your Mother's relatives. They were bad people, you had the proof on your arms and legs. But Father didn't have a choice, all of his relatives lived out of the country and none of them could take a small child for any period of time. So, you'd been forced to live with your abusive relatives. But, that didn't matter anymore. You were among people who loved you and cared for you as if they'd known you for your whole life. Well...For all you knew, they might've known you when you were a baby.

You slowly trudged into your room, your feet shuffling across the polished wood floor. Once your bare feet touched the fluffy white carpet of your bedroom, you simply slid your feet along it until you reached the bed. There, you hoisted yourself onto it and then fell face-first into the pillows. From your place in your room, you heard the phone ring. You heard it ring once...twice...Then Eliza picked it up in the living room.

The house was silent. It was an eerie, unnerving silence. You had this feeling form in your gut. Something just wasn't right. Your fears were confirmed when you heard Eliza shriek and gasp, quickly following this up by saying, "No! Alfred, you can't! Sh-she'll be heartbroken. Talk to your Boss - " Whatever Eliza might've said afterward was cut off by the person on the phone, who you assumed was Daddy.

Slowly, you slid off the bed and tiptoed to the living room. What you saw shocked you. Eliza was sitting on the couch, a hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes.

"Alfred...No...You have to ask again...Ju-just it explain to him, then!" She shouted, one of the clear tears streaming down her face like a liquid diamond.

"E-Eliza? What's wrong with Daddy?" You asked, stepping out from the corner you were hiding behind and staring worriedly at her.

"(Y/n), honey - " She was cut off again by Daddy on the phone. She then sighed and nodded. "Alright, you tell her." She mumbled and waved to you, beckoning you over to her. She then handed you the phone.

To be honest, you were scared to find out. From what Eliza had said, it wasn't good. After taking a deep breath, you pressed the phone to your ear.

"H-Hi, Daddy." You stuttered out quietly.

"Hey, (y/n)." He replied shakily. "Now...(y/n), sweetie, my Boss has given me a job. I have to go overseas to fight on the front lines, in a war that's been going on for a while now. I have no choice, I have to go. So, I won't be seeing you for a while." You gasped quietly when he said this, images of Papa's scars running through your head.

"No! Daddy! I won't let you get anymore scars like Papa! Please, don't go." You cried out, clutching the phone tightly.

You heard him sigh on the other end, it was shaky and weak...like he was on the verge of tears as well.

"I have to, darlin'. Please, don't make this harder for the both of us." You sniffed and tears ran down your chubby cheeks.

"Bu-bu...Daddy...You'll get scars, all over, just like Papa. You'll hurt if you do this. Please, don't." You said weakly.

"I already told you, (y/n), I have to. It's my job to be a hero now, to be the country's hero...To be your hero." He said.

Normally, those words would make you smile or giggle but now all they did was make you cry.

"Wh-When do you leave?" You mumbled, sniffling in between each word.

"Next week. Uncle Mattie is going to fly there and pick you and Eliza up a day before I leave, okay?"

You sniffled again, wiping away your tears with the back of your hand. "O...Okay, Daddy..." You mumbled, hanging your head in defeat.

"See you soon, sweetheart."

_Click. Beeeeeep._

As he ended the conversation, your heart sank. Daddy would be going away for a while. You wouldn't get to see him. H-He'd get more scars, just like Papa. You didn't want that. You wanted to stop their pain. But, the only way you could do that was by stopping the wars. When you'd first promised Papa, you hadn't thought of this. Fresh tears spilled over your cheeks. You were also going to break your promise to Papa...Why did everything have to be like this?! Just when you get close to someone, they rip your heart out or they leave!

You felt Eliza's hand on your shoulder. "(y/n)..." She murmured. You immediately spun around and buried your face in her skirts, sobbing quietly. She the scooped you up into her arms, holding you close to her and saying sweet, comforting words to you. You ended up crying yourself to sleep in your big sister's arms that night, as the world around you seemed to just collapse upon itself.

-This TimeSkip is Brought to you by Hungary's Frying Pan-

It was that day. The day that you dreaded would arrive. You were in the car, Daddy driving it, Uncle Mattie in the passenger seat and Eliza sitting next to you. You held the little red, white and blue stuffed bear that Daddy had given you tightly, almost crushing the poor thing. The bear was almost a little him, complete with a Nantucket cowlick and a little pair of glasses, mini replicas of Texas. The ride was silent the whole way there. Daddy was wearing his uniform, not the casual clothes you'd usually seen him in. He'd explained everything to you but you still couldn't believe that this was happening, that you were going to say goodbye to Daddy for a long time, maybe even years.

He said to you that the next time he saw you, you could be twelve or sixteen. You didn't want to wait that long to see him. You'd miss him too much! But, he'd explained that it was required of a nation to do these things. To fight for their countries. He said that he'd been expecting this for a while, considering how bad things were getting out there, but he didn't expect his Boss to call him out now, of all times.

Slowly, the car screeched to a halt at the airport. Your gaze went from the floor of the car to the window, staring blankly at the lights outside. Rain poured and the sky voiced its discontent, thunder rolling every few seconds and lightning flashing in the far off distance. It was as if the whole world was upset, just as you were.

"Sweetie, do you want to stay in the car?" Eliza asked softly, shaking your shoulder.

She knew you were in a fragile state right then, it was obvious. So she was treating you like you were a porcelain doll, handling every matter with care and delicacy.

"Mhm." You said, opening the car door and pulling the hood of your yellow raincoat over your head.

All of you stepped out of the car, you scrambling around the backside of it to reach Daddy and grab his hand, holding tightly. Your stuffed animal was still clutched tightly in your hand. He gripped back as well, as if scared to leave. Together, all four of you made your way through the airport to the plane that was waiting for him. The rain had lessened but the wind whipped your yellow raincoat around, tossing it in every direction. The wind caused the rain to beat down much harsher than usual and it made it harder to see anything past a foot in front of your face.

You could just barely see Daddy shaking Uncle Mattie's hand and his lips moving, but no words coming out. Eliza hugged Alfred, saying something to him as well, but you couldn't tell what she said. Then, he came over to you and knelt down, wrapping you in that bear hug of his.

"I'm going to miss you so much, sweetheart." He said to you.

"Me too, Daddy..." You said, not able to say anymore without breaking down. Eventually, you felt his warmth leave you and he began to walk toward the plane. As you stood there and watched him, you thought about how unfair this was. How he had to leave you...Just like Father. Before you knew it, you were running toward him, shouting at him not to leave. But, Mathew had caught onto what you were doing and ran up, catching you well before you reached Alfred.

"No! Let me go! Uncle Mattie! Put me down!" You yelled, trying to squirm out of his arms. "Daddy! No! Don't go! Please! Don't leave me!" You shouted, now directed at Alfred.

You could see him, his steps slowed as you shouted, but he didn't stop. You were making it very hard for him to leave, you could tell.

"Daddy! Please! I don't want you to get hurt! Daddy!" You continued to shout for him, but he didn't turn around. When he reached the door of the plane, he looked back and saw you, trying desperately to escape Mathew's grip. You finally paused, locking tear filled eyes with each other. He nodded to you and you froze, nodding back. Then, he went into the plane and the door shut behind him. Mathew carried you back to the car, the entire time you sobbed into his shoulder.

The three of you packed back into the car, this time Mathew drove and you clung to Eliza, crying the entire way back to Alfred's apartment. When you arrived, the power had gone out, so the entire apartment was a dull grey, just like the rest of the night. Eliza decided to stay in the guest room and Uncle Mattie crashed on the couch. You went up to your room but you found you couldn't sleep, even when your body was begging for rest.

You slid out of bed and tiptoed to Alfred's room, finding the bed semi-made but still a bit messy, just like it usually was. You climbed up into it, burying yourself in the covers and breathing in his scent deeply. You felt more tears come to your eyes. You already missed him so much. You sniffed and wiped away a few more tears.

"Come stop your crying, it'll be alright..." You began, half-mumbling and half-singing the lyrics. "Just take my hand, hold it tight...I will protect you from, all around you. I will be here, don't you cry." Just singing this lullaby made you burst into a fit of sobs again. His voice echoed in your ears, singing the song to you and calming you. Your sniffles subsided and you ended up just staring of a picture of him on his dresser.

"Cause you'll be in my heart...No matter what they say...Yes you'll be in my heart...Always." You yawned and your eyes fluttered shut slowly, the last thing you saw was Daddy's beautiful smile before you fell into a deep sleep.


	4. Prussia's Awesome Mission

The day afterward went on like any other transfer day. You got dressed, made yourself look presentable, even though there were dark bags under your eyes. Then, you went to the airport. But, this time it was different. Instead of boarding the plane with Eliza or Mattie, you were picked up by Prussia, Germany and Italy.

"Ve~! Bella!" Ye shouted in his happy tone, going over to you and picking you up, hugging you.

You didn't even crack a small smile. This made Feli pout for a moment, childishly, before glancing back at Prussia and Germany helplessly. The four of you, after saying goodbyes and Eliza exchanging a few words with Germany and Prussia, no doubt about your 'delicate' situation. Then, you were loaded onto the plane with the trio, and began your flight to Germany.

You sat at the window for the first hour, just staring out it. You were cracked, anyone could see that by the look in your eyes, and no one approached for fear of breaking you. The entire time, you held the bear that Daddy had given you, never once letting go of it. You feared that if you let go, you'd lose him forever. You didn't want that. You couldn't help but let images of Papa's scars flash through your mind, and Eliza's. You'd caught a glimpse of them once or twice and they disturbed you each time. Now you knew why each country wore as much clothing as possible most of the time, it was to cover up the scars that so many hard years of wars, droughts, economic crashes, and other disasters had done to their land and their people.

You heard the pilot's voice come over the speaker system of the plane and you froze. There was a Russian accent in that voice...D-Did Papa send Leonid? Leonid, the pilot who had flown you to and from Russia every time, was a good friend, since you spent so much time with him. You felt your lips begin to curl up slightly...Papa was concerned for you. But, then your smile dropped again. You glanced over at the trio. Germany was sitting alone, stiff and rigid as Italy laid his head on the German's shoulder, already fast asleep. And Gilbert kept glancing over at you, as if trying to decide something.

Eventually, he sighed and stood, walking over and sitting next to you. You just looked and stared at the window. You were very aware of the Prussian's intense ruby eyes focused on you, but you brushed it aside. You didn't really care.

"Piyo." You glanced around hearing that sound, a look of confusion on your face. You heard Prussia chuckling behind you, but you figured it was at his younger Brother's situation, since Feliciano had decided to curl up against Ludwig even more.

"Piyo~" You heard the noise once again ring in your ears and you looked around once more, hearing even more laughter come from the Prussian man behind you.

Then, out of the corner of your eye, you caught a bit of your reflection on a window on the plane. A little puff of yellow appeared in the reflection, perched comfortably on top of your head. Your eyes traveled upward and they caught just a slight glimpse of the ball of fluff on your head. You reached your hand up and Gilbird happily hopped onto it. You then held the bird at eye level.

You stared at him, and he stared at you. And you stared back at him, and he stared at your staring at him.

"Piyo~!" The little bird chirped, flapping its tiny wings. You giggled, but no smile touched your lips. He hopped from your hand and, using his itty bitty wings, managed to fly over to your shoulder and rested there, cuddling up to your neck happily. Again, you giggled but no smile came to your lips. You stared back out the window of the plane, watching as the clouds passed by. You eventually fell asleep, though it was restless and fitful, filled with bad thoughts of what could happen to Daddy while he was away.

**_- While you Were Off in Dreamland -_**

"West! Pssst! We~st!" Prussia chimed, being as loud as he possibly dared with you still asleep.

"What?" The German asked, rather annoyed at this moment.

"We have to get her to smile."

"...was?..." He questioned, staring at the Prussian blankly.

"C'mon, West! She'd be almost as awesome as the Awesome Me if she smiled. This...unawesome look of hers doesn't suit her." He said, explaining as if it made perfect sense.

His younger brother just stared at him blankly for a minute before sighing and shutting his eyes.

"I'd leave the girl alone, Gilbert. She's going through a traumatic time right now, having America going off to war just after she'd grown attached to him."

"All the more reason for me to make her smile!" He froze when he saw you stir, pausing and waiting for you to sigh and groan before settling again, though your face was contorted with a pained expression. He sighed when he looked at you...It was so unawesome for you to be down like this, pained over things that any normal four year old would never have to be bothered with.

Gil would never admit this, but he had a weakness for kids...Well, not the annoying, snot-nose brats that some kids could be, but sweet kids, like Ludwig when he was younger and other children in your family he's had a hand in raising, mostly boys though. Even after generations of your family's involvement with the countries, Gil had never been trusted to watch a girl, _ever._ So, he was determined not to screw this up, especially since it would be completely unawesome if he got his awesome little sister into trouble...Well, too much trouble. He couldn't keep any promises about not getting you into trouble _at all._

He turned back to his younger brother, a huge, goofy grin on his face. "C'mon West, you gotta help me out. Bitte~?" He whined, dragging out the word in hopes of annoying Germany into helping him. After about ten seconds of Prussia dragging on the word, he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Fine...Just...Don't destroy the house." He muttered angrily.

"Awww...C'mon, West! That only happened once!"

**_- At Germany's House ((We'll just skip past getting you into your room since you live in the basement with Prussia)) -_ **

"So, this is where you'll be staying." Prussia said as he showed you around the house. You just stared with blank eyes at everything, not really caring. After the whole tour of the grand home, you made your way to the basement and plopped down on your bed. The basement, apparently, had been scrubbed and cleaned top to bottom by Germany and Prussia before your arrival because Italy claimed the place was a dump before, littered with beer cans and Gilbert's underwear.

You laid down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, not aware of the pair of red eyes and the pair of black eyes that were focused on you at the top of the stairs. Prussia had been trying all day to get you to smile but so far...nothing. You wouldn't even giggle like you did on the plane when Gilbird snuggled against you...This was going to be a long month, he knew that much.

The next morning, you all woke and you realized you had lessons. After finishing the required subjects, you trudged downstairs to your little backpack and pulled out your Russian, Belarusian, and Hungarian homework, as well as the piano sheet music Roderich had sent with you to practice. You took your seat at the kitchen table, beginning the Belarusian worksheet. Thankfully, it was just practicing writing the characters, same for the Russian homework. The Hungarian homework you were learning your numbers and basic things.

You were so busy working, however, that you did not notice the Prussian man creeping up behind you. He looked over your shoulder and his eyes glanced at the sheet music you were reviewing.

"What are you doing?" You jumped and squeaked in surprise, glancing back at your Prussian caretaker.

"Reviewing..." You mumbled, your eyes going back to the music but just staring at it dully.

"Why~?" You sighed and slumped in your seat.

"Because, Uncle Roderich wants me to learn piano." You mumbled, slurring the words in an attempt to get the Prussian off your back. You knew that Austria and Prussia hated each other with a burning passion, you'd learned that much from Hungary. You were just trying to avoid as much conflict as possible.

"Was? You're only four years old, right?" He asked, crossing his arms and sitting in a chair near you.

"Yeah...It sucks." Your head hit the table. "It's so hard...on top of the Russian, Belarusian and Hungarian."

Gilbert stared at you, dumbfounded. You, a four year old human girl, was learning three languages at the same time, on top of being homeschool already way above her grade and she was being forced to learn how to play piano by that stuck up brat Austria. You had no room for fun! That, he thought, was truly awful.

"Come on." He said, tugging your sleeve.

"What? I have homework..." He just shook his head.

"No, you don't. You can forget about _that. _You are four years old, you just went through something pretty unawesome and now you're stuck doing homework. Nein. I will not allow it, not while I'm your awesome big bruder. " He said stubbornly, crossing his arms. "Now, I'm going to teach you how to have real fun...Just let me call the guys~"

For some reason, you felt the strong urge to run and lock yourself in the closet.

You should've listened to this feeling.

- TimeSkip brought to you by Gilbird -

Not long after Prussia had gone off to call the guys, you'd returned to doing your homework. You were just starting on the third sheet of your Hungarian homework, already way ahead on all of your work, besides the reviewing of the sheet music. You reminded yourself to ask Germany or Prussia later on if there was a piano that you were allowed to practice on. Just as you touched your pencil to the paper to begin writing the Hungarian word for 'twelve' the door opened and the heavily French accented voice called into the large home,

"You called, mon ami?" You immediately jumped and jerked your arm, causing your papers to fly everywhere. You sighed softly and then hopped off the chair, picking them up before Germany noticed.

Prussia bounded up the stairs from the basement. "Francis!" He said, walking over. You froze.

_Francis._

You'd been taught to fear that name. Immediately, you scrambled down into the basement, sitting on your bed, wrapped up in your blankets. You heard another person enter, the voice of a cheery Spanish man ringing through the house clearly.

You then heard Gil's voice float through the door to the basement you'd left open. "Okay, guys. West's gone for the day and Italy's off annoying his bruder...He is off with his bruder, right Spain?"

"Si!" The Spanish man exclaimed happily.

"Gut. Now, you remember what I told you on the phone, right?"

"Si."

"Oui."

"Alright, let's go!" He said, leading the trio back down to the basement.

When they saw you, balled up in your covers, you saw Prussia grin at you, a man with long blonde hair and blue eyes smiled at you and the man with dark skin and vibrant green eyes commented, "Oh! She looks like my little Lovi when he's embarrassed~! Red as a tomato~"

You couldn't help but blush even more, burying your face more into the blankets. You heard a snicker and then a sharp 'thud' as your Prussian older brother's elbow connected with Francis' arm.

"Ow...Why so harsh, mon ami?" France whined. Even though you weren't looking at him, you could tell there was a pout fixed onto his lips.

"No ideas, France." Gil warned harshly. Francis gasped.

"What would I do to the petit?" He asked innocently.

Silence. That was all that filled the room for exactly ten seconds. You didn't have to even peek through the blanket to know that Spain and Prussia were just staring at the Frenchman. You poked your head through the blankes to see Francis staring back at his friends as well. Spain and Prussia glanced between each other before looking back at him blankly and France just had a questioning look on his face.

"Quoi?"

Immediately, you burst into a fit of giggles, snapping all three countries from their dazes. You couldn't help it! The look on their faces had been hilarious. It was impossible _not_to laugh. You heard Gil and Spain's laughter as well. France simply stared at all of you before laughing and rolling his eyes.

Once everyone had stopped laughing and had caught their breath, France shot a playful glare at the other two thirds of the trio.

"That is just wrong..." He mumbled. "It's not like I haven't dealt with children before~" He chimed, causing both nations to whip their heads over to him.

"Who?" They asked in unison.

"Uncle Mattie, I believe...Canada..." You mumbled quietly, staring at them with wide innocent eyes.

France seemed to think for a moment before snapping his fingers and nodding. "Oui, that was his name."

You stared at him with a dull expression. He forgot his own son's name? That was just...depressing. You felt bad for Uncle Mattie, since a lot of people forgot about him...You didn't see how they could! He was nice, sweet, a bit shy, caring and he treated you like you were his own kid. The bed creaking next to you snapped you out of your thoughts. France had decided to sit next to you on the bed, Prussia leaned against the wall nearby and Spain just stood by, looking between you and France. They were all, apparently, a bit nervous about having him so close to you, you were too. Scooting away just a bit, he pouted childishly, a pout that you'd seen Daddy make multiple times.

"So cold, mon petit." He said, a bit of a whine in his voice. This made you smile, just a bit, you couldn't help it. He reminded you of Daddy, somehow. After thinking for a moment, you decided to trust him and scooted closer, causing a smile to break out of his face. You almost smiled.

_Almost._

The trio of nations looked at each other, their eyes connecting in a silent conversation. Eventually, Spain spoke.

"Well, you seem to know France and Prussia, but I don't think we have met. I'm Spain~ you can call me Toni if you want~" You nodded to him.

"Hi, Toni...I'm (y/n)...I heard about you...At the meeting." All the nations winced in memory of that meeting. Gil's hand even went up to his head, rubbing it a bit as if the pain from the whack of Eliza's 'Frying Pan Of Doom' was still there. You giggled quietly.

You remembered everything Big Sis had told you about these three. They were a group of friends and, usually, most nations avoided two thirds of the trio. Prussia, as Eliza claimed, had made a hobby of 'occupying vital regions' or whatever that meant...He was also known for using the word 'awesome' so much that most of the nations' heads would explode.

Spain, according to Eliza, wasn't that bad...Just a bit oblivious. He was certainly the guy to call when you needed cheering up, seeing as he was always happy.

France...Well...You didn't know what was wrong with France. Eliza claimed she'd tell you when you were older, thinking that you wouldn't meet him so early on. But, he was pretty bad seeing as most nations tried to stay away from him.

Sighing softly, you stared down at the floor. "What do you want? I have homework..." You grumbled, trying to get them to leave you alone.

You wanted to be alone...After what happened with Daddy, you wanted to crawl into a hole and hide there until he came to get you again. Or, at least, you wanted to see Papa. He would be the only one to help you through this. But, the schedule couldn't be tampered with. Each country had everything planned around that schedule. They didn't expect anything to go wrong this early on in your cycling.

"Nein."

"Non"

"No."

You sighed and fell forward on the bed, burying your face in the blankets. Roderich was going to be so mad when you came back and he found out you weren't able to practice! You didn't want to make anyone mad, least of all him, Germany and Papa. They could be scary when they got mad...

You groaned into the blankets, the sound coming out muffled. "Leave me alone..." You muttered.

You heard Spain chuckle and chime, "You're just like my Lovi when he was little~"

Your face immediately flushed a bright red and you were thankful that it was hidden by the blankets. You felt the blankets being pulled up and you gripped them tighter, not wanting to let them have their way. When the blankets were finally pulled back you sat up and just stared at the floor. Why did your big brother have to be such a jerk and try doing this? You weren't going to be happy...Not after all that had happened.

"What do you want? Can't you all understand that I just want to be left alone?" You grumbled, your voice wavering.

This time, Gil spoke up. "Ja, we know. But...it's just...it's really bad for you to carry on like this...We all get it, schatz. When we were little nations, we were raised by somebody but, just like every nation has to at least once in it's time, they went off to war..." You saw Gil hesitate, as if he were keeping something from you. He just shook his head, sighed, and apparently decided against whatever he was going to add. He moved over from his spot on the wall, taking a seat on the bed next to you. He ruffled your (h/c) hair with his hand before cont "My point is, ja, it is pretty hard to deal with. But, you can't shut out the world...Especially a few awesome people who are trying to help you."

You sighed, shutting your eyes to keep even more tears from escaping...You were pretty sure you were going to run out of tears soon, if that was even possible. You were sure that you couldn't cry anymore. But, you had to be proven wrong. Tears slowly leaked out of your eyes and, before you knew it, Gil had you cradled against his chest, attempting to calm you. You were almost certain that you had cried more than any child on the face of the Earth. After a while, you sniffled and rubbed your eyes one last time before going limp in Prussia's arms, curling against his chest.

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see France and Spain, speaking quietly with one another. You yawned softly and your eyes threatened to close.

"G-Gil?" You murmered, yawning yet again.

"Ja?"

"Can you let me nap for a bit?" You asked quietly, prepared to fall asleep in his arms if he didn't let you go soon. He chuckled, a rumbling sound that you heard since your head was pressed against his chest. Then, he set you down in the bed. You whined softly at the loss of his warmth. He simply chuckled again and ruffled your hair.

"Get some sleep, schatz. You deserve it." Then, he stood up from the bed and walked over to join France and Spain near the staircase. You heard their voices just before you fell asleep.

"Gilbert, mon ami, are you sure you can help her? The petit is...worse than I expected. Brisé." Francis said softly.

"Si, I agree." Toni murmured. Gil simply chuckled.

"If anyone can help her, it's the awesome me." He replied. Then, you heard their footsteps go upstairs and the door to the basement closing. You fell asleep with a smile on your face. He was right...Only your big bruder could help you.

_** - TimeSkip Brought to you by Gilbird - **_

"Bruder!" You screeched, chasing the Prussian around. He laughed back at you, barely even walking to get away from you. "Give it back!" You whined. He stopped, holding your music folder, filled to the brim with sheet music that Uncle Roddy had told you to look at.

"Oh, this? Nein." He replied, giving his weird "kesesesesesese~" laugh afterward.

"Bruder...Give it back." Germany's stern voice graced both of your ears, gruff and serious as it always was.

Sadly, you had quickly learned that, all though it appeared that Ludwig was the older brother, it was actually Gilbert. This meant that if Gilbert wanted, he could disobey Ludwig's orders. Well, not all orders. There were a few times he, Spain and France had nearly destroyed the house but...those are stories for another time.

Anyway, focusing back on you and Gilbert, you attempted to jump up and grab the folder of music. Eventually, after realizing you weren't going to reach the folder, you did the only thing that came to mind. Crossing your arms, you looked up at him with the 'Puss In Boots' kitty-eyes. If you had a little hat, everything would be perfect. You knew he couldn't resist that look.

He tried to avert his ruby eyes but, eventually, he caved. Just like he always did. He handed you the folder and you smiled at him, walking over to the couch and plopping down on it, flipping through the sheets.

"I have no idea why you choose to work yourself so much. Your a kid, have fun, get in trouble...Just don't end up being the anti-social you're shaping up to be."

You looked over at your brother and stuck your tongue out at him, wrinkling up your nose too. Then, you looked back down at your music. You heard the phone ring and Gil scrambled to answer it.

"Hallo, the Awesome Prussia is speaking." He said. Then, you saw him go even whiter than you thought was humanly possible and he started to shake again. A huge smile broke out on your face.

"Papa! Gimme the phone, bruder." You said, jumping up and walking over to him. He handed you the phone, still shaking a bit. Then, he walked off to the basement, no doubt to talk to Gilbird about his fear of Papa. You pressed the phone to your ear, immediately exclaiming, "Papa!"

"Hello, sunflower~" He chimed happily.

"Why are you calling Papa? I'm not due to your house for another week...right?" You asked, tilting your head to the side, a confused expression on your face.

"Da...Well, you will actually be staying with America's brother during the time you would usually spend with him." You froze for a second, processing the information. Then, you squealed and smiled happily.

"Okay, Papa. Is that the only reason you called?"

"Da...Well, that and I wanted to say 'hello' to my friend, Prussia." You giggled quietly, glancing at the basement doorway. You guessed that he found some sort of...amusement in terrifying the other nations. "You must also tell Germany and Prussia, in case they do not already know, that there is a Christmas party being held at my house."

"Alright. Bye Papa, see you around Christmas~!" You chimed happily and hung up. You skipped back downstairs, giggling when you saw big bruder snuggling against his bird for comfort.

"It's alright, bruder, he just wanted to tell me I was going to Uncle Mattie's next month, instead of his place." Gilbert nodded, his shoulders relaxing.

"That, and that you and Uncle Luddy have to come to his Christmas party."

* * *

Mwahahahahaha! And I leave you to guess what Gil's reaction was to that lovely statement.

Translations -  
Bella - Beautiful (Italian)  
Nein - No (German)  
Was - What (German)  
Mon Ami - My Friend (French)  
Si (do I SERIOUSLY have to translate this?) - Yes (Spanish)  
Oui - Yes (French)  
Gut - Good (German)  
Petit - Little One (French)  
Mon Petit - My Little One (French)  
Quoi - What (French)  
Brisé - Shattered (French)

Blame Google translate if these are wrong!

OH! I don't think I've ever posted the Family Tree on fanfic!

This is all the roles of each character that's currently shown up (or I am certain will show up soon) explained.

_**Father Figures**_

~Russia - The overprotective Dad who always has your best interests in mind.

~America - The Fun Dad who you stay up late and watch movies and play video games with. But, he's also the one who pushes you to do the best in everything you do.

**_Older Siblings_**

~ Prussia - The mischievous big brother that you love because he knows how to have FUN!

~ Hungary - The cool, tomboy big sister who you can be completely girly with one moment and then go out and play in the rain and splash in puddles with the next.

~ Brazil (my OC) - The mischievous, crazy older sister who loves you to death. She's also the one who inspires your love of nature, along with your Uncle Mattie. She constantly begs Papa to let you come to Brazil, even if it's just for a few days. ((MORE WILL BE ADDED LATER FOR BRAZIL))

**_The Aunts & Uncles_**

~ Germany - The uncool uncle who, while he does the right thing, he usually stops you and your Awesome Big Brother Prussia from doing too much damage. However, he is the reason why you have such amazing grades in P.E. xD

~ Feliciano - That goofy cousin that you can just be...crazy with. Though, whenever the two of you get into trouble from being too goofy, you flip out and try to figure out what to do to keep SOME PEOPLE (*cough*GERMANY*cough*) from finding out about what you did.

~ Mathew - That calm, quiet uncle that you can tell everything. You can also get some amazing advice from him, if you just ask.

~ Natalya - The 'tough love' type. She doesn't help with many things, she always pushes you to do things on your own, to be tougher. But, she'll be the first person to congratulate you or help you when she knows things are too tough for you. She's also the Aunt that the boys fear because, if they break your heart, she will not hesitate to haul off and kick their asses. This is the one and only time that Hungary, Belarus, America and Russia can all get along.

~ Roderich - A bit of the stuck up and snooty uncle, he's the one who pushes you to do more...refined things, such as playing the piano. While you don't usually like him, you do love to hear him play and there's one thing you can both agree on: music...well, for now anyway.

~ France - The Uncle who reminds you a bit of your Father. He loves everything...literally. Even though he's a huge perv and a big flirt, he has taught you one thing: love everything you do and love who you are. Be proud of what you have and don't be afraid to show others what you can do. He also shows you how to put passion into everything you do.

~ Spain - The fun uncle who you can, yet again, be goofy with. Though, your goofiness usually isn't as catastrophic as you and Uncle Feli's. He's really fun and shows you how to let go and just be yourself, as well as showing you never to give up on the one's you love, no matter how many times they try to push you away...and curse at you...

**_Mother Figure ((I'll put this here, in advance, in case I forget it for the Christmas chapter))_ **

~ Katyusha (Ukraine) - She's the kind, sweet Mother figure that absolutely adores you. Even though you can't see her often, since her boss has kept her from seeing Russia, you make the best of the time that you can see each other. ((more will be added for Ukraine))

I apologize if this chapter was crappy and uneventful, I needed to tie the reader in with Prussia and the rest of the BTT BEFORE the Christmas chappie...I PROMISE THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE 3 TIMES BETTER THAN THIS!


	5. The Christmas Party

AND SO THE LONG AWAITED CHRISTMAS CHAPTER ARRIVES!  
I was SO looking forward to this one~  
Now, before we get started, there are four OCs that are in this chapter: Brazil, Paris, London and New York City. There are also mentions of other OCs, but they aren't completely made...Just fill-ins.

If you want to submit an OC City, country, province or state, find me on DeviantART, Hairbun503, and submit the character there. All I need is basic information...I can usually work on the bio on my own BUT if you have an amazing bio for your character with all the history needed then, by all means, SEND IT. Make my job easier.

_**-Merry (early) Christmas!-**_

You heard the soft beep of the alarm clock and groaned, turning over in your bed. You didn't want to wake up. It continued it's obnoxious beeping for another minute before you heard a soft knock on the door, already knowing who it was.

"Come on down, eh? We h-have to b-board the plane to M-Moscow, remember?" Your eyes snapped open.

You'd completely forgotten! It was transfer day! You were going to see Papa and Aunt Natalya again. You missed them so much! You sat up in bed and groaned, stretching a bit before hopping out. Uncle Mattie just leaned in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest as a soft smile played on his lips.

"(Y/n)," he said, quietly.

"Hm?" You asked, scratching your head and yawning before sleepily trudging over to the dresser.

"You might want to brush your hair before you come downstairs, we have a guest." You groaned and your head connected with the the dresser,a solid _thunk _being heard as you did so_._

"I know...I have really bad bedhead...Wait, a guest? This early in the morning?" You looked over at him, a questioning expression on your face.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Apparently, this guest was as annoying as Daddy because the only other time Uncle Mattie would do that would be around Daddy. "Yes, a guest. You'll see her when you come downstairs okay?"

You nodded, sticking out your bottom lip glumly. For a second, you had hoped it was Daddy...You shoved this thought aside and shooed Uncle Mattie out of your room. What? A girl needed privacy when she changed! Then, you slipped into a little, knee length red dress with a white, long sleeved shirt underneath and white leggings. Then, you slipped on your white flats before bouncing off to the bathroom to brush out your hair. When you reached the bathroom, you noticed that _someone _had moved your stool. Grumbling to yourself, you remembered that you'd have to talk to that bear, Kumajirou, about moving around that stool. Slowly, you managed to drag the little stool back over to the sink and hopped up onto it. When you saw your reflection, your eyes turned to the size of dinner plates.

It was worse than it had ever been! You picked up the brush and, carefully, tried to brush your hair but ended up squeaking each time it ran into a knot. Eventually, it reached a very rough knot and, as you tried to pull it through, the brush got caught in your (h/c) hair. You let out a shriek of pain and then heard footsteps coming toward the bathroom. You also heard a rather loud girl talking to someone on the phone.

"No! Do not say that! I AM THE HERO'S DAUGHTER, I WILL NOT BE TREATED LIKE THIS!" She yelled. A moment later, she snarled and snapped the phone shut. "Yeah, 'f' you too, McDonalds." She grumbled, shoving the phone in her pocket.

Then, she reached the bathroom and her brown eyes went wide when she saw the brush stuck in your hair. Then, she began to chuckle. "Want some help from the amazing heroine?" She asked, crossing her arms with an expression on her face that reminded you of Daddy so much, you couldn't help but smile.

"Y-Yeah..." You muttered, keeping your eyes away from hers. She just chuckled and walked over, kneeling down and telling you to sit on the stool. Then, she deftly untangled the brush from your hair with her skilled fingers.

"One more second..." She muttered and then undid the last knot that kept the brush attatched to your head. "Success!" She yelled, fist pumping.

Then, she stood up and you got a good look at her. She had short, black hair that framed her face nicely but, you could see her roots were a hint of a blondish color, meaning that she probably dyed her hair. You met her warm brown eyes and saw a confident spark in them that made you think immediately of Daddy. She appeared to be around thirteen, but there was a glint in her eye that made you think she acted younger than her age. She also wore a pair of glasses, black framed but with a similar shape to Texas.

"Hey, hey, lil' sis! I'm New York City, but you can call me Quinn." She said, smiling at you.

You looked at her oddly, raising an eyebrow. "H-How are you New York City?" You asked, the confused expression clearly plastered onto your face.

She chuckled softly. "Well, all states and major cities have personifications! Dad had fifty kids and then there are a few major cities, like NYC and Washington D.C...I guess, technically, we're grandkids..." Her voice slowly trailed off before she shook her head. "Anyway, the point is, I heard about how you were sorta down about Dad being gone so, I decided, that the heroine would cheer you up!" She said, winking.

You giggled quietly and nodded. "I'm okay now...Sorta..." You muttered. She looked as if she were about to say something but, just as she opened her mouth, a delicious smell hit both of your noses. You two exchanged mischievous glanced before she shouted, "PANCAKES~!" And darted down the hall so that she could beat you to the table.

"You aren't gonna beat me, Quinn!" You yelled, running after her.

Just as you reached the table, Quinn was being served. You crossed your arms in the doorway and pouted. Quinn just stuck her tongue out and laughed.

"Hurry up before she eats them all, (y/n), she has an appetite like her Papa." Canada said, smiling at you. You quickly scurried up to the table just as a few pancakes were being piled on your plate.

The three of you ate happily, you and Quinn praising Mathew for his amazing breakfast. After breakfast was finished, you and New York crashed on the couch in the living room and chatted. She went on to tell you how she was aspiring to be a great journalist or a writer, seeing as she loved to write. She also adored photography, but she had a mind for business, you could tell that much when you spoke with her.

Every time the word 'plane' was said, however, she grew jumpy and nervous. You didn't know why though. Eventual;ly, Uncle Mattie announced that it was time for you to get on the plane. You saw that there was a big, black suitcase by the door and you grew curious.

"Why do you have that?" You asked, pointing at the suitcase.

New York beamed happily. "I'm coming with you~! It's ALL arranged. Paris, London and I will be staying with you and R-Russia!" You could tell that she was scared of Russia.

"YAY!" You cried, latching onto her leg. You were really starting to enjoy talking to her, so you were happy she was coming with. "But...Who are Paris and London?"

She smiled down at you. "My friends...Well..." She trailed off, wincing a bit. "Yeah, they're my friends...Paris and I just have our disagreements. Oh, Paris' name is Destiny, by the way. Destiny Marie Bonnefoy."

You nodded, etching that name into your brain. Then, you looked at Quinn curiously. "But...What about London?" You asked tentatively.

"London's a cool girl~! Pretty nice, really pretty...Though, she has picked up some of her Brother's habits...Thank the HEAVENS she doesn't have his eyebrows...I wouldn't be able to look at her without laughing." New York just seemed to ramble on for a minute, almost forgetting you were there. Then, she snapped back to reality.

"Well, let's get going!" She shouted, grabbing her suitcase and looking at you expectantly.

**_-Merry (early) Christmas! 7 Hours Later-_**

You had finally landed in Moscow and Leonid's gruff voice woke you from your slumber.

"_Welcome back to Russia, Miss (F/n)." _

You groaned sleepily, rubbing your eyes. You glanced at the little watch with the bunny design that you'd been given as a gift from New York and groaned at the time. It was 8:29 in the morning. You glanced over at New York, who was twitching worse than a caffeine addict who was being kept away by the sheer amount of coffee in their bodies. You didn't dare ask why...It was probably in her history. But, you noticed how she glanced around nervously, even though you were in an empty plane, besides Leonid. She griped at the arms rest, the hem of her shirt, she fiddled with her hair and even bit her fingernails, waiting desperately to get off the plane.

The moment that you two were allowed to disembark, she shot up and ran toward the nearest exit. The moment her feet hit the ground, she knelt down, putting her hands on her knees and breathed in and out deeply. She muttered quietly to yourself, "You're okay...You're alive...Nothing happened...Calm down...Stop thinking about it..."

You slowly walked over and placed your hand on her shoulder, shaking it lightly. "A-Are you okay, Quinn?" Her head shot up and she stared at you, a holy terror that couldn't even be created by Papa in her eyes, before it faded and she smiled weakly.

She nodded, pulling you into a hug. "Yeah...I just really hate planes." She mumbled, shutting her eyes and taking another deep breath before letting you go and standing up.

Quinn rubbed the side of her head, wincing. It was just then that you noticed a small scar that marred her skin. She hissed quietly as her fingers touched it. "Nope..still as fresh as the first day." She mumbled.

Before you could press on and ask her more, you saw a large, tall man in a tan coat appear and begin to walk toward you. You shivered violently, it was freezing! How had you not noticed before? You glanced over and saw Quinn had a winter jacket on but...you had forgotten to bring snapped yourself from your thoughts, wrapping your arms around your body. Then, you ran toward your Papa. Once you reached him, he scooped you up into his arms and held you close to his chest, nuzzling your cheek with his nose.

"We should get out of this weather, da? It was very foolish of you to forget your coat." He said, looking down at you with his lavender eyes.

You nodded and curled more against him, burying your face in his coat. "I know Papa...I missed you." You muttered.

"I have too, Sunflower." He replied. Then, you fell back to sleep, safely in your Papa's arms.

_**-Merry (early) Christmas!-**_

You woke up later that afternoon to hearing yelling coming from the room next to yours. raising an eyebrow, you slid slowly out of bed and went toward the room.

"You frog! I could beat you ANYDAY!" Yelled Quinn's familiar voice.

"Is that so, mon ami? Non, you must face the facts." You heard a growl come from the other side of the door, it was quiet, but you could tell it was Quinn growling.

"Hey, hey, hey! Both of you! Knock it off...You're going to wake up the kiddo...Or worse, you'll get us in trouble with _Russia._"

Silence.

"Yeah...Whatever..." Quinn grumbled.

"Fine. But we can return to this discussion later." The French girl that Quinn had been arguing with replied.

"Good." Said the last girl, a thick London accent in her voice. You knocked softly, tentatively, on the door.

Then, it was opened by a girl with long brown hair that she kept in two braids on either side. She didn't have glasses like Quinn, but she did have braces. She appeared to be Quinn's age and, when she smiled down at you, you noticed she had deep emerald eyes.

A girl, appearing to be pale with blonde hair and blue eyes, glared at Quinn in the corner of the room, muttering stuff to herself in French.

"Hey, girls, get over here! (Y/n)'s finally awake." The girl with the brown hair said, moving into the room and plopping down on the only bed there. Above the bed, there was a wide array of posters. Some were of notable landmarks in England, such as Big Ben. But, there were a few that were...out of place, among the collection. A good example would be the huge _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ poster or the..._Hunger Games_ poster? You saw that she had a bunch of CDs on the bed. They were an array of different CDs, all ranging in style and genre of music.

The girl in the corner immediately brightened up and walked over, putting her hands on her hips and looking down at you.

"Well, well! Look girls, our little sister." She said, smiling at you.

"Hey, hey! Watch it, you frog! She's my sister. Is the Hero _your _Dad? I think not." Quinn said, standing up immediately from her seat at the tiny table in the room and walking over to the blond, standing on her toes so she could look her in the eyes.

The blond just blew her off, wheeling back around to face you. She did this with a practiced ease..It was if they'd known each other for a long time.

"Hey! You don't just blow the heroine off!" She yelled, crossing her arms and pouting.

"I believe I just did." She said, waving her hand dismissively.

You simply stared at them blankly. then, New York facepalmed.

"OMG. I forgot to introduce you." She muttered dramatically. Then, she sighed and smiled down at you. "(Y/n), meet London," she said, gesturing to the girl with brown hair.

"Hey~!" London said, smiling happily.

"And this is Paris." She grumbled, gesturing to the blond. The two exchanged some 'friendly' glares before Paris sighed and, yet again, brushed off New York's intense gaze.

She walked over and knelt in front of you, smiling happily. "Hello, petit." She said, ruffling your (h/c) hair.  
You giggled quietly and nodded to them all.

"Nice to meet you~" You chimed, glancing around the room.

"Do you want to come in? We got some amazing games in here!" She said, hooking up a Wii to the T.V in the room. You happily walked in and plopped down on the bed, carefully avoiding the CDs strewn about.

"Oh, sorry about those!" London said, scurrying over and picking them up.

Then, she walked over and plopped down next to New York, picking up a controller tentatively.

"What's wrong?" Quinn asked, chuckling.

Mary just shook her head, sighing.

"Nothing...Let's just get this over with."

**_-Three Hours Later-_**

"WINNER: P1 - QUINN  
LOSER: P2 - MARY"

That had been the same thing to appear on the screen after every single match between Mary and Quinn. Eventually, Mary tossed aside the controller and went to sit at the tiny table in the room, fiddling with a deck of cards.

"Awww...C'mon Mary! You're not just gonna give up, are you?" Quinn asked, standing up. But, her legs had fallen asleep after so long of sitting down. So, she had to use the wall to support her.

"Yes." Mary said tersely. "You beat EVERYONE at that game, Quinn!"

Quinn chuckled as she said, "Hey! Blame Tokyo for that one! I had to beat him at least ONCE." New York insisted.

Mary seemed to tune her out as she continued playing around with the deck of cards. Somehow, Paris and New York managed to start arguing again so you'd decided to slip out of the room. There was something odd...You hadn't seen Aunt Natalya since you'd been here. Where could she be?

"Big Brother...~"

You heard the voice at the end of the hall and then grinned ear to ear. Turning around, you saw Natalya at Papa's bedroom door...again.

"Aunt Natalya! Leave Papa alone..." You said to her, calling from down the hall.

Her head whipped around and a smile curled at the corners of her lips. She glanced back at the door before embedding her knife in the wood of the door and saying, "I'll be back soon Big Brother~" Then, she walked over to you and knelt down, just a tiny smile on her lips.

"Hello, малютка." she said, her voice carrying an undertone of...sweetness? While you and Auntie Natalya had become close you didn't think she'd be...sweet to you. You shrugged it off as nothing, however.

"Hi, Auntie~" You chimed quietly. "I have all of my work that you sent with me in my bag...Do you want me to get it?"

Natalya shook her head, her light hair falling into her face a bit. "No, I think we should just relax for a bit." She said.

You nodded and then she stood, reaching her hand down for you to take it. You two then walked, hand-in-hand to her room, where she'd decided to would show you how to _properly _dress for Winter in Russia.

_**-Merry (early) Christmas!-**_

All too soon, it was December 24th, the day of the Christmas party. Almost all of the nations, as well as a few cities, territories, provinces and states would be in attendance. The place was barely decorated, not like it really needed to be...It would be so crowded, even with it being such a big house. The first group of people to show up were Prussia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Austria and Canada. Apparently, both big sis New York and big sis Eliza were fans of something called 'yaoi.' You ended up speaking with big bruder Prussia and big sis London for a while. The next two to arrive were England and France, who were the immediately glomped by their kids. Soon, France and Paris joined you and big bruder. The next to arrive was Spain, along with his daughter, Madrid.

You and Madrid got along very well, actually! She thought you were absolutely adorable, which made you blush, and then she would comment on how you looked like a tomato. It was okay, though. You were used to it.

You also met the twins, Buda and Pest. One was a girl while the other was a boy but they seemed dependent on each other...They always stayed near one another and never left each other's sides. Eliza would comment how, even though they were a tad strange, they really were quite sweet.

After meeting the Hungarian twins, Poland, Brazil, Greece, Japan, and China arrived, each of them being followed by their kids. Poland had Warsaw close behind him, Brazil and Rio were walking arm in arm, Tokyo walked just a bit ahead of Japan and had quickly located New York, China brought Beijing and, finally, Greece brought along Athens. Each person sought out another, making idle conversation.

You were truly amazed. You'd heard about world conferences with these people...How could they get along outside of those meetings? Oh, yeah...they were at Russia's house. Not for a mandatory world meeting but they were _invited _to his house. They were trying to stay on their best behaviors, as not to anger him.

Around ten minutes after Greece had arrived, the Baltics walked in tentatively. You immediately ran over and attached yourself to Lithuania's leg.

"Toris!" You exclaimed happily, smiling up at him. he seemed to stop trembling, only a little bit though. You knew that the trio had a bit of a rough tie with Papa, so you had to reassure them.

You also gave Latvia and Estonia hugs before Papa had called Estonia over. Toris and Raivis shot him worried looks but he brushed them off, walking over to the Russian bravely. A conversation took place between the two before they walked off to another room in the house.

The rest of the expected guests eventually flooded in. Each of the Original 13 Colonies had come over to console you before making polite conversation. Switzerland and Liechtenstein had showed up not long after to finish off the last of the expected guests. When you glanced at the clock, you noticed it was only eight thirty and yet all the guests had arrived.

"Hey! Chica! (Y/n)!" You heard Madrid call from all the way across the room.

You managed to weave your way through the crowd, finally reaching the BTT and their kids. Prussia had Berlin sitting next to him since, apparently, Berlin needed to get away from his Father and Italy..More the Italian than his Father, though. After being introduced, you sat patiently on Prussia's lap, watching the conversation carry out between the BTT and their kids.

After God only knows how long, Russia asked for everyone's attention. That was when the gift giving began. You ended up getting a little pink dress from Poland, he commented that it would, "like, totally look, like, fabulous on you." You also got a little kittie plushy from Greece, and a few other random things from other countries.

Then, just as everyone was finishing up giving you their gifts, Papa came up to you and picked you up.

"Are you enjoying yourself, sunflower?" He asked, smiling down at you.

"Mhm! I like this a lot, Papa~!" You said, giggling when he poked your stomach.

"Well, there's one more present for you...Go and get all of Америка's children, da?"

You nodded as he put you down. "Da!" You said up at him.

"Then, come to my old study...You know where it is, da?"

You nodded again and replied, "Da." Then, you went off to find everyone.

Eventually, you ended up leading a rather terrified group of kids through the huge Russian mansion. None of them knew where you were going, they only knew that Russia wanted them. The group that was following you was the Original 13 Colonies, NYC, along with Texas, Michigan, California, and Alaska...It seemed that only you and Alaska were the only ones _not _trembling like Latvia when he got in trouble.

Finally, you reached the study but, you couldn't reach the doorknob. "Alaska~?" You asked, looking back at the very tall girl in the back of the group. She came forward and opened the door for you. You saw Russia and Estonia sitting in the room, Estonia rapidly typing something on a laptop that was hooked to an even larger monitor on the desk. The large group of yours slowly approached the desk, you and Alaska leading the group.

Alaska greeted her biological Father, Russia, before turning her attention to Estonia. You all were wondering what he was doing when, finally, he pushed the chair back and sighed, nodding at Russia. Russia's smile seemed to widen and he looked over at the petrified group of states (and a city).

"I have a little Christmas present for you all~" he chimed, waving you all over to the desk. Estonia got up and then, silently, left the room. You sat down on the chair behind the desk, the rest of the group gathered around you.

"Push that button," he said, pointing to a key on the keyboard (which was, obviously, in Russian). As soon as you clicked, there was a collective gasp that came from the group and you.

America was beaming at your group. Then, he noticed all that states that had gathered even closer to you. "Wow..." He muttered. It was a rare sight to get even this many states together.

"D-Daddy!" You yelled, smiling at the computer. He cracked that same old, energy filled smile.

"Hey, sweetie." He said softly.

You glanced at the clock in the room. You could just barely make out the time. _11:58 pm._

Two minutes until Christmas.

"I wish I could be there with all of you...Honestly, I'm trying as hard as I can to get back as soon as possible."

It was then that Quinn spoke up. "D-Dad?" She muttered.

"Yes, my little heroine?"

"D-Do you know when you'll be coming home? New York is...depressing, without you here. I mean, Christmas this year just hasn't been the same for us states and cities."

The other states nodded in agreement, muttering as well.

He sighed and tears shone in his bright blue eyes. "I'm so sorry, kids...I really am. But, I explained this to all of you...I have to. I didn't have a choice. Besides, it's my duty as a country." He said softly, his voice cracking half way through.

You felt tears sting at your eyes and you glanced at the clock again. _11:59 pm._

"D-Dad?" A soft, polite voice spoke up from the group of the Original 13. It was Maryland.

"Yes, sweetheart?" He asked softly.

"Pr...Promise me-No, promise _us _that you'll make it home safely. We...the states...we're already disorganized without you here. Some have gone into depression. I mean...Georgia started drinking heavily again, Louisiana won't leave the house...It took forever to even convince Texas and Michigan to come along. We...We need you, Dad...The states, the cities, your daughter, need you. Y-...you need to be the family hero...soon..." The last sentence was whispered so quietly. Maryland's voice cracked when she spoke, her eyes shutting as diamond-like tears slid out.

It was then that you noticed that not only you were crying, but every single one of the states. And Alfred was crying the most. Tears steadily streamed down his face as he gazed at his little, broken family in the computer screen.

"I promise..." He muttered.

The clock struck twelve and a cheer went up from downstairs, the words "Merry Christmas" being shouted in so many different languages.

"Merry Christmas, kids." Daddy said softly.

"Merry Christmas, Daddy." You muttered, kissing your hand and pressing it to the screen. He did that as well and then, the screen went black. You wiped the tears from your eyes and gazed at the other tear-stained faces of the states. Slowly, they left, one by one. Each one had said goodbye, or hugged you, or ruffled your hair before leaving. The only exception was New York City, who stayed behind, staring at the blank screen.

"N...New York?" You asked quietly. She looked over at you with blank eyes.

"Yes?" She muttered quietly.

"You...seem worse than the others...why?" You asked quietly. New York gripped the back of your chair tightly. Russia, sensing that this moment was going to be private, slipped out of the study unnoticed.

She let out a shaky breath, tears flowing down her cheeks again.

"Because...all of this started in New York City." She muttered. "The reason why Dad's at war right now...It's..." She became choked up, shutting her eyes tightly.

"It all happened so fast." Quinn muttered, sinking to her knees. You immediately jumped off the chair, going over and rubbing her back.

"The...the towers...The World Trade Center...th-the planes...the other buildings...all those innocent lives." New York crumpled forward into a ball, shutting her eyes tightly and putting her hands over her ears, in an attempt to forget the screams.

You two stayed like this for a few minutes, her quiet sobs being the only sound that filled the room.

Finally, she managed to get herself back together...somewhat. Once she'd stopped sobbing, she'd pulled her knees up to her chest and stared blankly at the rug.

"You'll learn this when you're older, (y/n), but there are people who hate America...Who hate everything we are. And they hate us, as people, just because they hate our beliefs. Never, ever forget what you're taught in history, (y/n). It's true...Those who don't know history are bound to repeat it. We've been repeating history over and over again, the only difference is that each time, we get new weapons to slaughter each other with." She slowly looked over to you, her expression serious and intense. "Hate is a powerful word, (y/n). You must promise to never use it...Because _hate _is what got us into this mess...and it surely won't get us out."

You nodded to her and she pulled you into a hug, cradling your head and running her fingers through your hair.

"Come on...You can sleep in my room tonight, Quinn." You said, pulling away from her grip and standing up. She grabbed your hand and then you both went off to your room.

That night, you got the best sleep you'd had since Daddy had been deployed. Even though you'd parted with such sad words, he'd promised he'd return. You knew that he'd be back one day...It was all a matter of waiting. And you could be patient. Plus, you got to meet a bunch of your older siblings...Apparently, you had over fifty. That would be some family reunion...

Smiling softly, you thought off all the people you'd met...Berlin, the Budapest twins, Warsaw (even though they were a tad strange), Madrid, Paris, London, Tokyo...It was all so nice to see them. You even got to meet a little micro-nation by the name of Sealand and you'd immediately gotten along with him. He was the closest to you in age, after all.

Your family, as you'd witnessed tonight, was pretty big and really weird. But, they were your family.

Your Quirky Family.


	6. New York City's Little 'Gathering'

Just as a warning, this chapter is really nothing but OCs. So...Yeah...Later on the reader and Hungary will be stopping by.

Oh, and to everyone reading this: since I was lazy and I seriously HATE google translate, anything that's in Spanish will be in _italics._ Since Dominican Republic refuses to learn anything besides basic English.

Oh! Each of the OCs belong to their rightful owners.

Tokyo, Kairu Honda - ilovepercy122  
Botswana, Larona Tomaalo - kalliatkuan  
Oregon, Celeste Lazuli Eroll-Jones - ChibiNeko313 ((The only one on this list who submitted the OC from Fanfiction))  
Ontario, Hunter Sheffield - ky7kil  
Moscow, Aneska Nabatov - PerditaXDream1101  
Alaska, Brooklynn Jaide Braginski - PortiaQuinn2012  
Dominican Republic, Ciel Guzman - AngeloTheNinja  
Brazil, Ohio, Michigan, Brazil, NYC, Paris, and London all belong to ME.

I'd also like to dedicate this chapter to my amazing stalk-I MEAN follower, ChibiNeko313. Seriously, you're awesome for reviewing and just awesome in general~

Another note: I am bumping up the rating to T due to some of the OCs colorful language.

* * *

Quinn, the personification of New York, paced the length of her Father's living room nervously.

_When are they going to get here?! _She thought impatiently. Finally, the elevator dinged and the door opened to reveal Mary and Destiny, otherwise known as London and Paris. Mary immediately went over and hugged her friend, while Paris just waved.

After they exchanged greetings, Paris spoke up, "So, why did you call us here, mon ami?"

New York sighed and bit her lower lip. "It...It's just...My family is falling apart, girls. I called together a few of the other states, as well as a few of the countries, so that we can plan on how to fix this..."

The tension in the air could be cut with a knife. It was a well known fact that NYC tried to avoid asking for help as much as possible, so that fact that she was calling in not only her siblings but OTHER COUNTRIES to help was a huge thing.

"So...Who did you invite?" London asked tentatively.

Quinn sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She then quietly muttered, "Anybody I could. I sent the invite to all the states and told them to pass it onto anyone they could. I also, personally, send an invite to Tokyo and Brazil."

Paris nodded before sighing softly and pulling out her phone. "I'll send a few invites as well...I think Madrid could drag along the Dominican Republic, if I invite her."

"No! Not the Dominican Republic!" NYC immediately yelled.

"Oh...Eheh...Too late, Madrid already has the text." Paris said, chuckling nervously. Then, she asked, "What's so wrong with the Dominican Republic?"

New York simply rolled her eyes, muttering words to herself that would've impressed Romano. Paris sighed, looking at her friend with a blank expression. NYC had a bit of a temper on her, so this was nothing new. When Quinn finally stopped her 'colorful' rant, Paris asked, "Done?"

She sighed and flopped down on the couch. "Not really...But, I have to act somewhat decent when the guests arrive so there's point in me getting all upset. Besides, knowing her, she'll be around fifteen to thirty minutes late." New York said, making a dismissive gesture with her hand.

Then, she snatched a DSi off the table by the couch and hit the power button, the opening theme for the game 'Pokemon Black' immediately playing. There was a buzz and then the doorman's voice came through a speaker by the elevator.

"There is a Celeste Eroll-Jones here to see you...Should I send her up?" He asked.

NYC seemed to think for a moment as she sat up and walked over to the speaker, hitting a small white button and saying, "Could you please ask her her nickname...or which sate she lives in."

A moment later, his voice came back over the speaker. "She said you may know her better as 'Cel' and said that she lives in Oregon." A smile immediately slapped itself onto Quinn's face.

"Yes, by all means, send her up!" She exclaimed, then she waited patiently for the elevator doors to open.

A minute later, there was a soft 'ding' and the doors to the elevator opened. A woman stood there, about five feet tall, in a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt, a grey and black checkered scarf, and a grey newsboy hat. She had light skin, though it seemed a bit paler than it was supposed to be, she had hazel-green eyes and freckles that dotted across her face. A weak smile was on her lips and she gripped a cup of Starbucks coffee in her hand, which was shaking.

New York's smile dropped a bit. "Cel! Are you alright?" She asked, going immediately over to her sister and hugging her. Cel returned the hug before sighing.

"I-I'm okay...It's just, the news about Dad hit me pretty hard." Quinn nodded sadly.

"Yeah...It hit us all hard. Did you hear about Georgia? He's drinking again." Quinn said, crossing her arms.

Cel gasped, her eyes going wide. "This is really bad." She mumbled. She took a sip of her coffee, sighing softly afterward and smiling.

"Well, hopefully, we can fix this soon." She said. It was in that moment that she noticed the other two girls in the room. She looked over and raised an eyebrow at New York.

"Well? Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" She asked, an actual smile coming onto her face.

New York beamed back and nodded. "Yeah. Paris, London, this is Oregon. You can call her that or Cel."

London nodded and smiled at her. "Pleasure to meet you~" She chimed. "New York hasn't introduced us to every one of the states yet. I'm London. You can just call me Mary though." She said, going up and shaking Oregon's hand.

"Bonjour~" Paris said, waving. "I'm Paris but you, mademoiselle, may call me anything you like~"

Quinn gagged slightly at her friends' flirtatious nature. "Yeeeeah...Feel free to ignore Paris' flirting. She flirts with EVERYONE, besides London and I. But...there was this one time - "

"NON! We promised we would not EVER speak of that time!" Paris shrieked, cutting her friend off.

Quinn just chuckled. "Yep. By the way, her name is Destiny."

Cel nodded, taking another sip of her coffee. "So, who else will be joining us?" She said, walking over to the couch and taking a seat.

New York shrugged just as the doorman's voice came over the speaker again. "A Miss Kairu is here to see you."

New York grinned devilishly and went over, pressing the white button again. "Let her up. In fact, if anybody asks to come up here, let them up. Okay?"

"Yes, Miss." He said.

A minute later, the doors opened, revealing a girl of obvious Japanese decent. She had long, dark brown hair and brown eyes. She was also pretty busty. As she stepped in, she adjusted her glasses and bowed to everyone.

"Kon'nichiwa." She said quietly, giving everyone a shy smile.

"Yo! Tokyo!" Quinn called, glomping the poor unprepared girl.

"Gyah! New York! Don't just tackle me!" She yelled, smacking the girl lightly upside the head.

Tokyo and New York were pretty good friends so they treated one another like family. After the two managed to stand up and Tokyo was introduced to Oregon, the elevator dinged again. The doors slowly slid open.

"You called, da?" Everyone froze, thinking it was Russia. They all soon realized, however, that it was just Moscow.

"Oh, Moscow, it's just you." New York said, breathing a soft sigh of relief. But, as one would notice, she stayed just a bit away from the Russian girl.

Moscow stood taller than everyone else in the room, a scowl seemed permanently etched into her features. Her blond hair was shoulder length and she had piercing blue eyes. She wore a silver parka, black boots and black jeans.

"Why don't you take your parka off?" New York asked, attempting to be polite. It was rather obvious that she was very close to the scary Russian, being his capital and all. The LAST thing that she wanted was make her mad.

Moscow nodded and unzipped the large article of clothing, letting New York carry it off to the coat closet. Underneath, she wore a long sleeved black shirt. Silently, Moscow took her seat away from the group, eyeing them all carefully. The next person to arrive was Madrid, the cheery Spanish woman immediately brightening up the room. After a minute or two of talking to everyone, Madrid went over to talk to Moscow, since she looked lonely.

After her, Brazil and Botswana arrived, chatting idly. However, the moment Brazil and Madrid's eyes met, steel glares set into their features. This was not one of their good days, apparently. Before Madrid could start shooting off some rapid-fire Spanish curses, the door pinged again and a nineteen year old stepped in. She was immediately hugged by Oregon and NYC.

"Alaska!" Quinn exclaimed, happy to see her sister. Alaska was around five or six inches taller than Oregon, had waist length curly black hair and purple eyes with flecks of green in them. There was also a bit of freckles on her nose. She wore a pair of black skinny jeans, as well as a pair of military style, knee-high black boots over the jeans. She also had on a deep purple sweatshirt.

Once her sisters let go of her, she nodded to them.

"Hey, Oregon, New York." She said, a gruff undertone to her voice. Both sisters just brushed it off, knowing that was just her personality. New York appeared unaware of the scowl that suddenly appeared on her sister's face, cast in the direction of Paris, who was at that moment conversing with London.

Oregon, however, did notice it. "Hey..." She warned, not wanting a fight to break out between them. "No fighting...That's the last thing everyone needs right now."

Alaska sighed, casting a final glare in the direction of Paris before turning her attention back to her sisters. "Am I the last one here?" She asked.

As if to answer her question, the sound of yelling was heard from the elevator. A collective sigh came from New York, Oregon and Alaska.

"They're fighting again." New York grumbled, crossing her arms.

"When do they ever _not _fight?" Oregon replied, casting a glance at New York.

The doors to the elevator opened to reveal two men, about college age. One of them had tanned skin while the other was a bit pale. The one with the tan had short, curly brown hair and blue-violet eyes while the paler of the two had short blond hair and blueish-green eyes.

"Face it, Ohio! U of M beat your asses to a PULP last year!"

"We had bad refs! The Buckeyes, had it not been for the AWFUL referees last year, would've won!"

"Yeeeeaaah...That's your argument EVERY TIME we beat you." The boy with the tanned skin said.

"Why you little - !" Ohio was just about to jump at the other man's throat when they were both grabbed by the collar, Alaska keeping them separated.

"Michigan! Ohio! We have no time for your little fighting! There are PLENTY of people currently gathered in this room that would GLADLY be at each other's throats right now...The least you can do is show a bit of self-control and SHUT UP about football for a bit and SIT DOWN."

Alaska then released their collars and they crossed their arms, glaring at each other.

"This isn't over." Michigan grumbled.

New York, sensing the tension in the air, went over and wrapped an arm around Michigan's neck.

"Dude, am I the only one who can't WAIT for racing season? I mean, look at what Ford has lined up!" She said, immediately appealing to the one thing that they both enjoyed: cars.

"I know, right? This season is going to be EPIC." He replied. The two of them broke off from the group, talking about cars and who they thought would win this year.

Tokyo sighed and rolled her eyes. "I will never understand them..." She muttered. Her eyes suddenly fixed on the XBox 360, her fingers twitching. She had been dying to play Call of Duty: Black Ops II against New york for some time now. New York's eyes slowly wandered away from her sibling, Michigan, over to the Japanese girl. Their eyes met and devilish grins spread onto their faces.

Michigan, sensing the situation, slowly backed away. "Uh...New York? You okay?" He asked. "You're freakin' me out..." He muttered, backing away even more.

New York just chuckled before walking over to Tokyo, raising an eyebrow.

"Wanna play?"

Tokyo nodded, and New York hooked up the game system, handing her a controller.

A half hour later, Tokyo and New York sat on the couch, their fingers mashing the buttons with lightning speed. A bit of pocky hung out of Tokyo's mouth as she concentrated on the game...and kicking New York's butt, of course.

Then, she fired that last shot and the winner was decided: Tokyo had beaten New York. She immediately jumped up from the couch and cheered while New York stared at the screen for a moment. Then, New York's head whipped around.

"YOU ASS!" She yelled. But, Tokyo was too busy high-fiving Michigan to notice.

Then, Tokyo smirked over at New York. "YES! I KICKED. YOUR. ASS." She shouted, grinning triumphantly.

"TWO OUT OF THREE! I CALL FOR A REMATCH!" New York shouted, standing up. But, Tokyo didn't get a chance to reply because the elevator dinged yet again and two people walked in.

The first was a boy, appearing to be around fifteen, with short dark brown hair and two stubborn little strands sticking up...Michigan and New York had learned the hard way not to pull either of those hairs, though both of the had gotten a different reaction. Michigan had ended up in the Hospital and things between New York and Ontario had been just a tad awkward for a while after. He wore a black tanktop, a green jacket, army green pants and black snow boots. He also had a scarf on and a chain with a fleur de lys charm on it.

"Hey, everyone," he said quietly. Michigan immediately walked over and high-fived the boy.

"Hey, Ontario! Nice of you to join the party." Michigan commented. Ontario nodded and then sighed.

"I guess we're a bit outnumbered..." Ontario muttered, in reference to the number of girls in the room versus the three boys that were currently in attendance.

Michigan chuckled and nodded, but he shuddered as well. "Yeah...We're trapped." He muttered in reply. This caused both of them to chuckle.

"Ontario~!" A voice called across the apartment. Paris ran up to him, hugging him tightly.

"It's nice to see you again, Paris." He said, nodding to her. A light blush dusted Paris' cheeks. It was no secret that Paris had a rather large crush on Ontario...He was just too oblivious to notice it.

The next person that was in the elevator would've gladly stayed _**in**_the elevator, had it not been for Madrid dragging her out, fussing and cussing in Spanish. The girl had dark skin, similar to the color of Michigan's but just a tad darker. Her long, dark brown, curly hair was drawn up, away from her face. Even though it was the beginning of January, she wore a sleeveless black shirt that just barely covered her stomach as well as a pair of long, grey jeans with a black studded belt and black, high-heeled boots.

_"What the hell, Madrid?! I don't even want to be here!" _The girl exclaimed grumpily, glaring at the Spanish girl before her.

_"Then why did you show up, Ciel?" _Madrid asked in reply.

This caused the girl to go silent. New York glared at the girl from her place near the couch. They both disliked each other...None of the states liked her and she didn't like them, that was the way things worked between them. Of course, since Spanish was one of the main languages spoken in New York, the two of them would commonly argue in Spanish, shouting as many curses as they could at one another.

The tension in the room rose as the entire apartment went silent, staring between New York and Dominican Republic.

Botswana, who had spent most of her time in the apartment in the corner, isolating herself from the strangers, slowly stepped forward. She was an older woman, early twenties, who was tall with long, wavy brown hair and large green eyes, with flecks of blue and orange in them. She wore a white tanktop and khaki cargo pants. She'd decided to play peacemaker...at least with New York, since she knew New York. Madrid also stepped forward to calm down Dominican Republic.

The possibly volatile situation was quickly defused, thankfully. Botswana had managed to calm down New York and Madrid had convinced Ciel to keep from starting an argument. But, all four of the nations knew that this wouldn't last long. Ciel would probably start arguing with one of the more easily angered states, such as Michigan.

Finally, every guest that had been expected had arrived. New York then called for everyone's attention. All eyes turn to her.

"As you all know, another child from the (last name) family has begun learning about the nations. But, unlike most members of her family, she has gone through something pretty traumatic. Only two months after she'd bonded with my Dad, America, he left for war. He'll be gone for God-only-knows how long and she, along with the rest of the states, are beginning to fall apart. Normally, when a gathering is called, every state shows up. But today? We had four show up, I believe. **Four. **We need to stop this family from falling apart...At least for (y/n). I've already met her, so had London and Paris. And we can all agree...She's an adorable, sweet little thing...But, she's..." New York paused for a moment, looking over at Paris. "How did your Dad put it?"

"Brisé...Shattered." Paris muttered sadly, her eyes blankly fixed on the floor.

"Yeah...Shattered. That, and I heard from Prussia - " A collective groan came from the group. "Hey, hey...Let me finish. Prussia said that she's being overworked. She's being home-schooled at at least a second grade level ON TOP OF learning three of the hardest languages ever, Russian, Belarusian and Hungarian. To add onto all of this, apparently Austria is trying to teach her piano as well...The poor girl has barely any time to relax."

_"Are you going to get to the point or not?" _Ciel grumbled, even though she was listening intently and she was quite worried for the poor girl that New York was telling them about.

"Yes." New York said, glancing over at her. "I was getting to that...Before you interrupted me." She commented.

_"Why you - "_

"ENOUGH. Stop it, both of you."

Madrid cut in quickly, stopping the argument before it began.

New York sighed and rolled her eyes before continuing. "My point is, the reason I called you all here is because I invited her over."

All of the people in the room just stared at NYC as if she'd grown a third head. Paris was the first to speak up.

"Quoi?! Mon ami, do you have any idea what you've done? You gathered a bunch of the most volatile personifications there are and put them in an apartment together and you invite a CHILD?!"

New York's gaze hardened. "I know what I'm doing, Paris. Besides...She had to get to know all of us EVENTUALLY. She's going to grow up with all of us, whether she likes it or not. She's going to attend world meetings, as well as the meetings of the states, provinces, territories, et cetera. Hell, she'll probably end up LIVING with one of us for a period of time once she's old enough to stop cycling through the countries."

This made Paris go silent, though she glared at her friend while she leaned against the wall. Just as New York was going to speak up, the elevator dinged and Hungary stood there, with you hiding behind her.

"Hey, (y/n), you weren't shy before...Come on, there are a few people you know here." Eliza said softly.

You gazed up at her with your (e/c) eyes questioningly before slowly emerging from behind her to see a bunch of people with their eyes fixed on you. You immediately went back to hiding behind her. The states that were currently in the room, along with NYC, exchanged glances. Then, they began to walk toward the elevator, the line of siblings slowly forming. Once they reached the elevator, you peeked out from behind Eliza. You noticed a bunch of people you didn't recognize but, the person who caught your eye was Quinn.

"Quinn!" You said, darting out from behind Eliza to latch onto her leg. Quinn chuckled softly and knelt down, smiling at you.

"Hey, (y/n). I want you to meet a few people...These are a few of the states. They're your big brothers and sisters. Would you let me introduce you?" She asked softly and politely.

You nodded shyly and she picked you up, carrying you over to the first state, Oregon, otherwise known as Celeste. You thought she was pretty sweet, but you were curious as to why she was jittery and shaking. The moment after you finished speaking to her, she rushed into the kitchen.

"Why did she run off?" You asked New York.

"She's a coffee addict...She can't go very long without it. We're lucky we're all still alive currently." Said a male voice. You looked up to see a boy, who Quinn introduced as Ohio, also known as Jacob.

"H-Hi..." you squeaked out quietly.

"Hello, and what is your name?" He asked.

"(Y/n)..." You murmured.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, (y/n)." He said with a smile. You couldn't help but smile back at him.

The next one you met was Alaska, also known as Brooklynn. You immediately liked her. She was nice and sweet to you, thought when she suggested 'training' you shuddered and shook your head. You'd begun to fear the word 'training' after spending a month at Germany's house.

Afterward, you met the last in line, Michigan (a.k.a Ethan). He was pretty cool, though he was...Well, to put it plainly, he was a bit weird. Though, you didn't mind that! You'd met weirder! The rest of the night, you were slowly introduced to each of the people in the room. You especially took a liking to Botswana, Ontario and Tokyo.

But, through the night, Ontario ended up starting to talk to Quebec who'd shown up sometime while you were being introduced to Moscow. Tokyo and New York City had ended up going to play Call of Duty. Right after the two of them began playing, Botswana and Oregon moved you upstairs, deciding it was best for you _not _to hear New York's rants after she'd most definitely lose to Tokyo for a second time.

The three of you ended up sitting on your bed, Oregon slowly braiding your hair, as if to keep her fingers busy. You spoke a lot with Botswana and learned that her human name was Larona, and that she had a pet lion and a pet elephant back home. You asked if you'd be able to visit and she'd told you only if you got the country that was watching you when you wanted to visit to agree.

The night wore on and, eventually, Oregon and Botswana tucked you in and they left. It was about midnight by the time that everyone, besides London, Paris, New York and Hungary, had left.

When the last guest filed out, Paris smacked New York upside the head.

"What is wrong with you?!" She asked, outraged.

"Hey! What the hell was that for?" New York whined, completely ignoring the insult but more focused on the fact that Paris had hit her.

"You brought a little girl, a four year old, into a room with Madrid and Brazil, a bunch of the states and the Dominican Republic, and Ohio and Michigan, and Alaska and I! What. Were. You. Thinking?" She hissed coldly.

London and Hungary ended up pulling you two apart, but they continued their arguing.

"I-I just did what was best, okay?! She needed to get away, Paris. She needs...She needs to relax for a bit. She also needed a few people who knew WHAT THE HELL SHE'S GOING THROUGH! I mean...I wanted to get any one of the original 13 here...That would've been best. I mean, Dad fought in the Revolutionary War when they were still so young! I didn't expect they wouldn't show...And I didn't think that the Dominican Republic would show up, or Alaska, or Brazil for that matter!" She shouted, her voice rising with each word.

"See! This! This is what happens when you don' think ahead, New York. I mean...What if Alaska snapped at me? What if the Dominican Republic went off on ANY of the states? Hell, what if Ohio and Michigan started fighting again? You KNOW that what you did was wrong...You're just covering it up and trying to save your own hide!"

"I am not! Paris, don't you dare accuse me of that! I was trying to help her! She's my little sister, Destiny! Just, think for a moment! Do you honestly think I would put her in harms way?!"

"You did tonight! WHAT IF SOMEONE HAD MADE MOSCOW MAD AND SHE'D SNAPPED?! What then, eh?! Chaos, that's what. What you did was selfish, narrow-minded and just plain STUPID."

"BUT SHE DIDN'T, PARIS! NONE OF THEM DID! They all behaved, just like I thought they would! None of them would snap in front of a child, especially a human child! You KNOW THIS. So why do you insist on arguing with me about it?!"

"BECAUSE SHE COULD'VE GOTTEN HURT, THAT'S WHY!"

New York was just forming a reply when she noticed you at the top of the stairs with tears in her eyes.

"Oh shit..." She muttered, her eyes wide. "(Y/n)." She said, heading for the stairs. You just turned and ran off to your room, slamming the door shut.

"Do you see what you did?!" Paris shouted at New York. All New York did in reply was glare at the Frenchwoman and flip her off before running up the stairs.

Once she reached the door, she knocked rapidly. "(Y/n)! Open up! Please...(Y/n)...Open up." She said, staring at the door.

A minute later, the door creaked open and you stood there, sniffling and wiping your eyes.

"Oh, (y/n). I am so sorry...So, so, so sorry. Paris and I...Our fight got out of hand. I'm really, really sorry you had to hear that." She said, dropping to her knees and wrapping you in a hug.

You tried pushing her away but she wouldn't let go. You wanted to be alone! They...they'd been fighting about you. Two really good friends were fighting over you. They made it sound like they hates each other.

"You two *hic* sounded like you *hic* hated each other!" You sobbed into her shoulder.

"No, no." New York said, rubbing the back of your head gently. "We don't hate each other...Trust me...We just have our disagreements. Every person does. You can't get along with everyone, (y/n)." She said quietly.

After a while, she'd managed to calm you down and get you into bed. But, when you found that your mind kept drifting back to New York and Paris' argument, you'd went into Daddy's room, the little teddy bear that he'd given you the day he left clutched tightly in your hand.

You crawled into his bed and picked up the picture of him off the table next to you. You then traced the rim of the picture with your finger, staring sadly at it.

"I don't know what to do, Daddy...Our family is falling apart." You muttered, clutching the picture to your chest. You slowly murmured a lullaby that Gil had sung to you in German.

You ended up falling asleep like that, a tiny smile on your lips. Each time you'd sung a lullaby or spoken a word in Russian, Belarusian, German or Hungarian while you were at another country's home...it made you feel like your family wasn't as far apart as they actually were. And, with the picture and the stuffed bear known as 'Alfred Jr.' with you, you felt that Daddy wasn't really so far away from you.


	7. The Sun Is Already Setting

Just as a note, the reader is currently at Russia's home and is now six years old. So, this skips ahead only a little bit. Oh, the reader is also now fluent in Russian and Belarusian. They're almost finished with their lessons in Hungarian and have started their German lessons. Anything in italics is Russian.

You sighed, staring up at the light blue ceiling dully. Today was one of those days. One of the days where you spent your time sitting in your room and remembering all the things you had to go through and challenges you had to face without a real, stable family. The list, as you noticed, seemed to stretch on forever. It was times like this that you missed your Mother more than ever. To make things worse, your Father had fallen ill. He was currently at a hospital in Spain. You'd visited last week and none of the countries had tried sugar coating it: your Father was in pretty bad condition. The constant traveling had been wearing his body down.

A soft knock reached your ears, as well as your Papa's soft voice, speaking to you in Russian, asking if you were alright.

_"I'm fine, Papa. Just tired..." _

_"Are you sure? You've been in your room all day and you know that your aunt is visiting today." _Aunt? Aunt Natalya? Wasn't she always at the house, especially now that you were here? Even so, Aunt Natalya never gave warning when she was coming over, she just showed up.

_"Aunt Natalya?" _You asked, a hint of confusion in your voice.

_"No, your aunt Katyusha, my Big Sister. She finally managed to talk her Boss into letting her visit." _

Oh...That aunt. The mysterious woman who had been behind you for the past two years. At first, it was the night gown, but then she started becoming a bigger influence in your life, even if she wasn't there. When you'd passed your final test on Russian, you'd gotten a letter from her saying that she was very happy and proud of you. On your fifth birth day, there was a box at the very bottom of the pile, with light blue and yellow, horizontally striped wrapping paper. The gift itself had been a little, handmade doll. Next Christmas, it had been a scarf, which had the flags of each country that had been influencing you: the Russian, Belarusian, the Hungarian, the German, the Prussian, the Italian, the America, the Canadian, and then there was the Ukrainian flag at the very end, just barely even on the scarf. This continued on. Each time you would achieve something, or a holiday came around, you would get a letter from her and/or a gift. You actually kept all of the letters she sent you in your little jewlery box, a gift from Poland for your fifth birthday.

Despite your current mood, you couldn't help but let a smile ghost across your lips. You were finally going to meet her. The woman who had supported you through a lot of your hardest times over the past two years with gifts but, mostly, her kind words in her perfectly timed letters.

_"When is she getting her, Papa?" _You asked, realizing that you were still only in your PJs.

_"She'll be here in about one hour." _

Crap...You had an hour to try and make yourself look presentable. Even though you were only six, it still took a lot of effort to get yourself washed up and dressed, due to the fact that your hair now took a half hour to brush out, since you hadn't gotten the chance to get it cut and, while you trusted Poland with everything relating to make overs, you did NOT trust him with to cut your hair. You would pretty much let him do everything else (as long as it didn't involve TOO much pink), but your hair was something you would very much rather take care of on your own.

With a heavy sigh, you slid off of the bed.

"I'll get ready..." you muttered, finally speaking in English. While you could speak Russian, you still preferred English because, after a while, Russian gave you a head ache. You heard his soft reply, but didn't really care what he said, and then heard the sound of his footsteps disappearing down the hall. Going to the closet, you slid it open and let your eyes dully flip over the outfits inside. With each outfit, it was pretty obvious which country picked out which outfit, and which ones you actually chose. The pink dress? Poland, obviously. The classy, stylish little shirt and leggings, in red and blue? France. Finally, your eyes fell on the little light blue dress that you had picked out back when you and New York City had gone shopping.

Reaching up, you managed to pull it off the hanger and then began the long, painful process of getting ready.

_**- Time Skip to an Hour Later - **_

_**DING-DONG! **_

The doorbell rang through the house, just as you finished tugging the brush through your hair. Smiling, you looked in the full body mirror and couldn't help but smile. Your little light blue dress came down to your knees and had a little floral pattern across the bottom. Since it often got cold in Papa's house, you also wore a long sleeved white shirt and long leggings. You also wore a pair of white tennis shoes and you had your (h/c) hair in pigtails with little yellow ribbons. You looked simply adorable.

"(Y/n)! Your Aunt is here!" Papa called from downstairs.

"Coming!" you shouted as you walked out of the room. Hopping down the stairs, you saw Papa standing by the door, exchanging a few words with another woman.

The first thing you noticed was that she had a very...erm, large chest. But, then you noticed her kind blue eyes and the happy smile on her face. Your mind immediately moved back to your Mother. She really reminded you of your Mother, and you hadn't even spoken to her. It was just this...air about her that made you want to go up to her and let her hold you. You wanted to have her hold you and tell you that everything would be okay.

She glanced over, finally taking notice of you. "Oh, hello, (y/n)," she said, smiling softly at you.

Papa nodded. "Okay, I'll be leaving now."

You looked over at him, a confused look set into your features. "Papa, why are you leaving?"

"Ah, it's the only way Ukraine is allowed over..."

"It was my Boss's request," she said, sighing softly.

Nodding, you sat down at the bottom step, waving goodbye to your Papa as he left. Once he was gone, Ukraine walked over and sat next to you.

"Thank you," you muttered.

She chuckled and ruffled your hair. "It was no problem. My Boss was being a bit of a pain so I knew I wouldn't have been able to see you until we could convince him...I helped every way I could."

Looking up at her, you cocked your head, a neutral look on your face. "You kinda remind me of my Mommy..." you muttered.

"Really? How so?" she asked.

You shrugged. "I don't know...You just do...I mean, my Mommy was really nice, like you are. Oh, it's probably just because I miss her..." you mumbled, more to yourself than anything.

"Where is she?"

"She's dead," you replied, sniffling.

Dangit, you were going to cry! You couldn't cry, not anymore. You'd cried too much for a six year old. But, despite how much you tried to hold in your tears, they slipped out. You rubbed them away with your sleeve furiously, a growl slowly transforming to a sob. You were so angry, with yourself, with your Papa, with your Daddy's Boss, with everyone. It was as if nobody noticed you, crying out for help. You were six years old and you'd been through more than any kid had ever had to go through. It wasn't fair that YOU had to go through this. Why couldn't it have been someone else? Why did your Father have to get a job with the countries? Why did your Daddy have to leave? Why did your Mother have to die?!

Suddenly, you felt yourself being picked up and placed in her lap. She hugged you, running her fingers through your hair and whispering a song under her breath in Ukrainian. It took a while, you don't know how long, to calm down. Once you did, she pulled back a bit and wiped away your tears with the sleeve of the sweater she was wearing and kissed your forehead.

"It's okay to cry, you know. You of all people deserve to cry. You can't just bottle up your emotions because, eventually, the pressure inside becomes too much, and it's all let out at once," she said softly, looking you in the eyes.

You nodded, not trusting your voice to speak.

"Now, why don't you go wash up your face, and I'll make lunch."

You nodded again, smiling softly and climbing out of her lap. Hopping back up the stairs, you made your way to the bathroom, wiping off your face with a damp cloth.

She chuckled softly, smiling widely. You reminded her so much of Russia and Belarus, when they were younger. She missed being able to care for them, now that they were old enough to take care of themselves.

Standing up, she made her way to the kitchen to start on lunch for the two of you.

_**- Time Skip to After Lunch - **_

The two of you were sitting on the couch, and you were letting her braid your hair, when you suddenly asked, "Ummm...What was the song you were singing to me?"

She smiled softly and chuckled. "A Ukrainian Folk song called Сонце Низенько...The name of the song, in English, is 'The Sun Sets.' "

You shifted nervously, biting your lower lip. "W-Would you sing it again? I really liked it..."

"Of course." And then, she began to sing. The song was slow and beautiful...You were immediately entranced. Shutting your eyes, you let yourself be captured in the song and its lyrics, even if you couldn't understand them. When the song ended, you smiled and looked back at her.

"What is it about?"

"It's about a girl, waiting for her sweetheart at sunset. When he comes to her, she asks him if he really loves her or if there is another. He says that he does love her, but he can't marry her. The end of the song is her lament, 'Oh, my dear god! What have I done! I fell in love with him, but he has a wife..' The man also has two children," she replied softly, grabbing a pony tail and wrapping it around the end of a braid she'd put into your hair.

Wow...It's so sad...but really beautiful...C-Could you teach me it, sometime?"

Of course," she said, kissing your forehead. "There! Your hair is done, do you want to see it?"

"Yes!" you exclaimed, bouncing.

She grabbed a small mirror from beside her and held it up for you to see. Your hair, once unmanageable and constantly tangled, was put into small, neat braids, woven with light blue and yellow ribbons.

"I love it!" you exclaimed, wrapping your arms around her. She hugged you back, setting the mirror back down. Once you pulled back, you asked, "How did you get them so tightly braided? My Mother could never braid my hair because she claimed she needed three hands to do it!"

Ukraine chuckled, smiling softly. "I'm good with my hands. Weaving and embroidery are a large part of my culture."

"Wow! I didn't know that," you said, tucking your knees under yourself. She nodded.

"And, I'll bet you didn't know that many of the earliest composers and performers within the Russian empire were ethnically Ukrainian, having been born or educated in Hlukhiv, or had been closely associated with that music school."

You shook your head, smiling widely. That was one positive thing you could say came out of being introduced to all these countries, you had a natural fascination with other countries cultures and histories.

Could you teach me more about your country?"

She looked a tad shocked, but it was a sort of 'I can't believe you actually want me to do that' shock. Then, she smiled widely and nodded. "Of course! I guess I should start at the beginning..."

_**- Time Skip to Five Hours Later -**_

The clock struck nine o' clock, interrupting the middle of her sentence about Soviet Ukraine, and what it was like. She hadn't even gotten to finish all of her history! But, as much as you wanted her to continue, you were exhausted. It was apparently obvious, since she asked you, "Hey, (y/n), isn't it time for you to be getting to bed?"

Nodding weakly, you yawned, your eyes threatening to flutter shut right there. "Hey, Mama, would you mind finishing this up another day?" you asked.

Wh-what did you call me?" she asked, her voice gentle, but shocked.

It was then that it struck you. You'd called her Mama. But, oddly enough, it fit her. It really felt like she was your Mother and, honestly, that's what you saw her as, a Mother figure.

"I called you Mama. You don't mind, do you?"

Shaking her head, she laughed and said, "No, not at all. And yes, we can continue this another day. Now, come on, let's get you to bed."

Grabbing your hand, she helped you up the stairs, since there was no way that you were going to make it up them on your own with how tired you were. After managing to get you dressed, she tucked you into bed and kissed your forehead.

"Good night, (y/n)."

"Wait, Mama! C-Could you *yawn* sing to me before I fall asleep?"

"Of course," she replied, sitting up on the bed and singing the exact same song to you that she'd sung earlier. You were asleep before the song was over.

* * *

IT'S FINALLY DONE! I got the idea when I was watching SkadiPirate's Ukraine video on youtube. THANK YOU, SKADIPIRATE AND YOUR AWESOME SONG CHOICES!

If you want the song that Ukraine is singing to the reader, go to youtube, and look up 'The sun is setting'

It's a Ukrainian Folk song, and a beautiful one at that. I am in love with it.

I hope this chapter was worth the wait! As always, please review!


	8. Lady Lessons?

Okay, so I am putting this is in now (mostly to remind myself) but here's the reader's country schedule!

December - Russia  
January - Hungary  
February - Prussia  
March - America/Canada  
April - Russia  
May - Hungary  
June - Prussia  
July - America/Canada  
August - Russia  
September - Hungary  
October - Prussia  
November - America/Canada

There, now you can follow through the story, as well as figure out when each date falls. Yes, I purposely arranged it so that the reader was in America or Canada in July. Can't have her missing their birthdays, eh?

Now, onto the next chapter! The reader is now the fresh age of twelve and the month is October.

* * *

You laughed loudly as you watched Uncle Francis argue with Uncle Arthur...again.

Wait, when was England even invited over to the house?

Oh, that was right, he was going to talk to Prussia about your 'lady lessons', as he had put it. Poor England had arrived on the most unfortunate occaision. France, Spain and Romano had been invited over so all of you could just talk about, well, any and everything. When England had shown up and tried to talk to Prussia, he had bust out laughing so hard he was clutching his sides. You managed to overhear the conversation and laughed as well, falling back onto your Prussian Flag pillow.

You? A lady?

He did know that you spent a good deal of your time with Natalya and Eliza, didn't he?

Sure, Mama had been trying her hardest to make you girly, but you failed miserably in that category. Well...not 'miserably.' You could still be persuaded to wear a dress and let her braid your hair, but that was about it. Then, there were the makeovers with Poland, but those were merely for amusement.

But, being an actual lady? How did he plan on going about this?

You sighed softly, quickly getting tired of watching your uncles bicker and going over to the other side of the room, where Feliciano was bothering his brother.

"Come on, fratello, play football with me~" he chimed, poking his cheek.

This caused the Southern Italian to go off on a string of loud, random curses in mixed Italian and English. You giggled softly watching as he, as Uncle Spain always put it, 'turned red as a ripe _tomate_.' After watching for another moment, you cleared your throat, effectively getting the Italian twins' attention.

"Ve~! (Y/n)! You'll play football with me, si?"

Smiling, you shook your head. "No, I was just coming over here to grab my book...But, you're kinda sitting on top of my book chest."

Italy gained a small disappointed look, but it didn't stay there for long. After getting them to get off of the hardwood chest, you opened it up to see a rather large collection of books, in an assortment of languages. Most of them were in English, another quarter of the collection being taken up by a mix of German and Russian, a few in Spanish, three or four in Italian, and the rest were ones French, including an unabridged copy of Les Misérables, which you had finished...twice. Scanning through the book box, your eyes widened when you saw the first book in the Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy. It was almost as if flames had appeared in your eyes.

"Okay, who's been in my book box?" you asked, slowly standing up, holding the book in your hand.

Everyone froze. It was no secret that your book box was off-limits, and anyone caught touching it would never see the light of day again. But, having the nerve to store books in HER box was unforgiveable. Your eyes glanced over every nation in the room, weighing the possiblity of each one having gotten into your book box.

_Couldn't have been Uncle Feli or Uncle Lovi, neither of them would bother to pick up the book. Could've been big bruder Gil...Nah, that wouldn't work. He hates stuff like this. There's no WAY it was Uncle Tonio, so that leaves..._

Your eyes fell on the cowering Frenchman and irritated Brit. "You two...Which one was it?"

"While I have heard about that book, I have not read it." France said, his voice ringing with truth.

Your eyes narrowed. In the past few years, you had learned to tell when the trio, Uncle Francis, Uncle Tonio and Big Bruder Gil, were lying to you. After a moment, you nodded.

"He's clean," you mumbled, your eyes going over to England. "And your excuse is...?"

He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Hand me that - "

"Ohonhonhonhon~! Oh, I didn't know you were a fan of that kind of literature, Angleterre~"

A little tick of irritation appeared on Arthur's forehead and he glared at the Frenchman with his venemously green emeralds. "Lay off, you bloody frog! I'm just checking for something..."

After being handed the book, he flipped to a certain page, and sighed, placing a hand on his forehead.

"It's London's. In every book she owns, she writes her initials at the top of page sixty six," he explained, shoving the book up under his arm. "I'll be having a chat with her later..."

Glad that the issue was resolved, you went back to your book box and pulled out the copy of Les Misérables, shut the hardwood box, and plopped down on your bed, curled up in the corner, flipping to some random place in the book.

France smiled, walking over and sitting next to you, speaking in rapid French about the book. England just stared at the two of you in a mixture of confusion and awe. Never, in his life, had he seen France be this...civilized? Calm? Ah, quiet. That was the word he was looking for. It seemed that the Frenchman made it a point to annoy him every single day, but the moment you put him with (y/n) he immediately calmed down and, dare England say it, seemed to act like a fill-in father for her.

When he suddenly heard the both of them break out into a fit of laughter, he almost wished he spoke French..._almost._

You glanced up as France settled beside you, smiling at him.

_"So, little one, how many times have you read that?" _he asked, smiling from ear to ear.

Sighing, you rolled your eyes, a soft smile on your lips.

_"I'm not little any more!" _You exclaimed, making him chuckle.

_"Ah, that may be true, but I still remember the time when you were four years old and didn't even come up to my knees." _

You stuck your tongue out at him, giggling. _"Come on, Uncle Francis, you can't keep calling me little! I'm almost to your shoulder now..." _

He chuckled, ruffling your hair. _"So, looks like England will be taking you away for about a week...Apparently for 'lady lessons,' as he puts it." _

You sighed, hanging your head. _"Awwww...But I really want to stay here with you, big brother, and Uncle Tonio! I don't even know why I need these lady lessons..." _

He sighed, giving you 'the look' with his crystal blue eyes. 'The look' was something that, in your opinion, he should've gotten a patent for. It could guilt you into doing ANYTHING. Trying to avoid his eyes, you eventually found your self sighing, and muttering how you'd go, but you wouldn't like it.

He started to chuckle, despite his hardest attempts not to. Your head immidiately shot up and you narrowed your (e/c) eyes at him.

_"Ah, I never expected you to ENJOY it, (y/n). It is a week at England's, it's not going to be 'exciting.' But, things could be worse...You could be at Antonio's for the tomato harvest...again." _

Your eyes widened and you shuddered at the memory. It was hot, humid, and Uncle Lovi was complaining the whole time. To put it lightly, it had been hell. The only upside had been after the tomatoes were harvested and you'd gone back inside to play with Puerto Rico and Madrid.

_"True, I'll agree with you on __**that. **__But I still have to put up with Uncle Arthur! I mean, London and Uncle Allistor aren't that bad, but Uncle England is really...hard to get along with." _

France's gaze softened. _"Aw, my little one, why don't you give him a chance? I bet if you opened up your heart to him, you'd find that you have a lot in common." _

_"How can you be so sure?" _

France chuckled. _"I know more about him than you, and the other nations, might think. He's not that bad of a person and, when he wants to be, he can be quite kind...He just has a horrible fashion sense." _

At this, the both of you burst into fits of laughter.

Once you'd managed to stop laughing and catch your breath, you spoke with France a little while longer before Prussia said, "Could you two stop speaking in French? You're giving us all a head ache."

Rolling your eyes, you sighed and closed your book, putting it back in your chest.

"So, when am I leaving for England?"

**_- Time Skip To Three Days Later - _**

You sighed as Prussia kept asking you if you were sure you wanted to go, if you had everything, etc. etc. While many people saw him as a bit of a goofball and not capable of being a responsible adult, he was a rather protective big brother...In fact, he was a bit _over _protective.

Sighing, you were glad when you finally pulled up to the airport to see, not England, but Uncle Scotland waiting for you. A huge grin spread across your face.

"Uncle Allistor!" You shouted, jumping out of the car and running toward him. You hadn't seen him since...well, you didn't even remember the last time you saw him. You mostly encountered him at parties, hosted by Prussia, and you'd seen him stop by Uncle Mattie's a few times during your months with him. Even though you hadn't seen him often, you two got along surprisingly well.

The moment you got over, he grinned and ruffled your hair, effectively messing it up.

"Uncle Allistor! It took an hour to brush it out this morning!" you whined, glaring playfully at him.

"It's nice to see ye too, lass," he said, chuckling, only causing your glare to deepen. Gil stepped out of the car, clearing his throat.

"I'm not your packmule, (y/n), come and grab you bag."

Sighing over-dramatically, you hung your head and trudged over to the car, managing to wrestle your bag out of it. After saying goodbye to Gil, and warning him not to lay a finger on Venice (since she was visiting while you would be gone), because Italy and Romano would get over their cowardice and kick his ass if he so much as looked at her in a perverted way.

Finally, you managed to get Gil to drive off, albeit reluctantly. After he was gone, Allistor chuckled.

"It seems more like you're the older sibling out," he commented.

You sighed, blowing a stray piece of hair from your face.

"Aw, come one, Uncle Allistor! Give him some credit, he's never been trusted with a girl out of my entire family line. He doesn't want to screw this up," you said simply, shrugging.

After going through the airport security, you will finally able to board the plane. The entire way to England, you two talked and swapped stories about the crazy stuff you've been through.

After about a half hour on the plane, you suddenly asked, "Umm...Uncle Allistor? How did you get permission from Uncle Arthur to pick me up? I'm pretty sure he was going to pick me up himself, or send London."

Allistor grinned mischeivously, his green eyes glinting. "I bribed London to let me pick ye up."

You chuckled. "Isn't Uncle Arthur going to be mad if you drop me off and not London?"

Scotland rolled his eyes, his lip pulling up in a bit of a sneer. "Arthur can shove it up his - "

"Uncle Allistor!" you whisper-yelled. "We're in public, watch your language."

He rolled his eyes. "And what are you going to do about it?"

You narrowed your eyes, a Russia aura forming around you. You smiled, with a childish cruelty, your eyes closed.

In your best, quietest voice possible, you murmured, "I am related to Ivan, Uncle Allistor."

He scooted away from you a bit, raising an eyebrow. "You need to stop acting like him...It freaks people out," he commented. It was true, the little six year old that had been kicking your seat was now curled in a ball cowering in fear.

You giggled, high pitched and sickeningly sweet. "Now why would I do that?"

After he managed to snap you out of your 'Russia-mood,' you grinned and made a mental note to talk to Papa about that later.

**_- Time Skip to about an hour later - _**

You sighed as you waited for your luggage to come around the baggage claim. Of course, you'd been allowed one free carry on, but you had insisted on bringing your book chest. Finally, when your bag came around, you gripped the handle and drug it off, checking the tag, and then glancing back over at Uncle Allistor, who was currently arguing with Uncle Arthur.

You sighed, again, and trudged over, dragging your bad and you book chest (which had convenient wheels attached) behind you. Upon reaching them, you cleared your throat. Neither nation paid you any mind.

Okay, now you were a bit mad. So, summoning the Russia aura again, you imitated his voice.

"Become one with Mother Russia, da?"

This effectively shut them both up...and sent London, who had been standing nearby, into a fit of giggles.

"Thank you," you said, curtsying. Leaning up on your tiptoes, you managed to peck Allistor's cheek.

"I'll see you at the Christmas party at Papa's this year, oui?"

"You can expect me to be there, lass. Don't let Artie push you around, okay?"

You just chuckled and waved him off, letting him walk away without Arthur interjecting a word.

"So, we're going to your home, right?"

Arthur, finally snapping from his odd daze, smiled and nodded. "Yes, of course. Mary, would you help (y/n) with her bags?"

Mary smiled, bouncing over and embracing you before grabbing the handle to the bag with your clothes.

"Come on, it'll be fun! In between your lessons, we can watch a few of the old Monty Python movies I have in my room!" she exclaimed, smiling brightly.

"Really? That'd be awesome!"

"'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!"

You and London stared at England, your eyes wide. Suddenly, all three of you busted out laughing. You all ended up laughing so hard that there were tears in your eyes.

It took a while, but the three of you managed to calm down and make it to the car. The entire way there, you were throwing out the funniest quotes you could think of. Even England quoted the Frenchman from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. When asked if they could tell France he willingly quoted a French person, he shouted that they won't tell the 'bloody frog' and then proceeded to grumble to himself about Francis for a minute or two.

Everything seemed to be going well...at least, until you got home. That was when the lady lessons began, and you entered living hell.

**_- Time Skip to Three Days Later -_**

You collapsed on the bed, breathing out dramatically.

"I'm going to dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..."

London was sitting on the bed next to yours, her legs tucked under her body, and staring at you.

"You're not going to die, (y/n)."

"Yes...I am...HOW DID YOU EVER LEARN THIS?!" You exclaimed, bolting upright in bed.

"I grew up with much stricter rules of etiquette. A lot more was expected of a woman, and 'free thought' was never really allowed. Not the mention the ridiculous fashion standards..." she muttered, her voice dwindling off. "There are things that were seen as 'fashion musts' and all women were expected to follow these. Many of these fashion standards, before women gained rights, and even now in certain countries, were very cruel. There was foot-binding in China, and I was forced to live through the hell that came with wearing a corset. Trust me, (y/n), you have things easy now."

Sighing softly, you nodded. "Yeah...I guess you're right."

You heard your watch beep softly, signaling your next lesson. A groan passed through your lips and you hefted yourself off the bed, trudging out of the room. As you walked into the room, you saw your book chest on the floor in front of the couch.

England sat on the couch, staring intently at a copy of _Romeo and Juliet_. You smiled softly; you'd always loved Shakespear. Walking over, you plopped down next to him, causing him to jump.

Then, he glanced at the clock. "Ah, I didn't notice the time," he muttered.

You nodded. "So, what do I have to do this time?" you asked, a hint of disdain in your voice.

He shifted awkwardly. "Well, I thought that you'd been working a bit hard, so we could go through some literature together."

You raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He only nodded, glancing down at your book box.

"I figured that you had quite a collection, considering the countries you live in."

You smiled, unlatching the hardwood chest and letting your eyes scan the chest.

"How many languages can you read?!" he exclaimed in shock.

You giggled. "English, Spanish, French, Italian, though I have a bit of a problem with it sometimes, German, Hungarian, and Russian. I'm also trying to learn Japanese, and I'm finishing up my Belarusian."

He gave you a look of awe. "How many languages do you plan on learning?" he asked, now thoroughly interested.

You shrugged. "I don't know...I know I want to finish up Japanese, I might ask South Korea to teach me Korean, I might learn Mandarin...Oh! Now I remember! I really want to learn Finnish, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic, so I can talk to all the Nordics in their own languages."

"You don't say? You've taken a liking to them?"

You nodded. "Well, yeah. When I was six, I used to play with Sealand and Pearl Harbor. We were usually with the Nordics, seeing as Finland and Sweden now care for Peter."

"Hm...I see...Well, what is one of your favorite pieces of work?"

You grinned and reached into the bin, pulling out your copy of Les Misérables. "Uncle Francis gave that to me as a gift for passing my final French test. I've read it twice, and I'm about to finish it for a third time. While I adore Shakespear, I have to say that Victor Hugo is an amazing author, and Les Misérables is an outstanding literary work."

He nodded. "I know, I've read it."

"Really?" you asked, your eyes wide.

Sighing, he nodded. "Just because I hold a grudge against that frog Francis doesn't mean I'm going to turn my nose up at a great piece of work. Literature is something that you read without bias, and you don't let petty grudges get in the way. You have to let yourself get immersed in a book and see _every _character's point of view, no matter how minor. You can't just focus on the main characters. Every character matters. If you're missing a character from a book, it's like a missing puzzel piece - the book will never seem right without it."

You nodded, smiling widely. "Nobody seems to understand me on that...You know how I attended a school in New York for a while?"

England nodded, wondering why you were bringing this up.

"Well...they laughed at me, called me a nerd because I was such a fan of books...That's why I was pulled out so quickly."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" England gasped, staring at you wide eyed.

You shrugged. "I didn't want anyone to worry, I guess...Besides, I knew something they didn't."

"And what's that?"

You giggled. "I knew the curse of British cooking."

Arthur stared at you, blankly, for a minute. Then, he grinned widely and pat your head. "You have no idea how proud that just made me...I guess you did pay attention when London was talking to you."

You nodded, grinning widely. "Hey...Uncle Arthur? Is there any way we could drop the lady lessons?"

He sighed, thinking for a moment. Then, he said, "Of course...as long as you take on...another kind of lesson."

"What lesson?"

"Well...you obviously show some promise in magic..."

"THANK YOU, UNCLE ARTHUR!"

* * *

**A/N: Yay~! Chapter 8 is here! And we have Scottie and Iggy in it! **  
**WOOT! **

**So, this chapter just hit me while I was in school today. I wrote down the notes as fast as I could and then waited 'till I got home to type this up. **

**I'm really happy with this chapter, mostly because it's a HAPPY CHAPTER! I've been reading too much angst...besides, there's a lot of sad stuff going on in my life right now. **

**Oh! By the way, guys, I put Les Misérables in because **  
**A) I love the musical and I'm reading the book (abridged...sadly) in class for literature! **  
**B) I'M GOING TO SEE THE MOVIE IN DECEMBER!**

**Oh! And for those of you who ****live under a rock**** don't know about Monty Python or which sketch I'm referring to, look up 'Dead Parrot' on youtube. It's the first thing to pop up. **

**I'll edit this later to put up the family tree!**


	9. I'm Coming Home

Thirteen years old, at Uncle Mattie's, in July~

* * *

You sighed, glancing over at Sealand and Pearl Harbor, who sat on the couch with you. You were too bored...Was it even possible for you to be this bored?

You three would've gladly been over at the Nordic household, talking and playing with Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Norway and, as much as Sweden hated it, Denmark.

But, after the last catastrophe at the house that had occured, you three had been banned from Nordic home until they could replace the couch and fix the door to Denmark's room.

The three of you still didn't know how the dresser had fallen through the door...You blamed Denmark, but the other Nordics still didn't want you around him.

So, you were stuck with Uncle Mattie. Not that you didn't like Uncle Mattie! You did, you loved him to death, but Ontario was out, as well as the rest of the provinces, and NOBODY wanted to talk to Quebec...

Groaning loudly, you flopped onto your back, Pearl Harbor falling on top of you, and Sealand falling on top of her, in a sort of domino movement. Then, to add onto your pile of boredom, Kumajiro walked over and plopped down on top of Sealand, effectively trapping all of you.

"Ugh...get this stupid polar bear off of me..." Sealand mumbled, shifting his position. Why was the couch suddenly so squishy?

"Um...Sealand? Could you please get your head off my chest?" Pearl Harbor muttered, a bright red blush on her face. Sealand's eyes sprang open and he sat up, flinging the bear off of the couch onto the floor.

Kuma growled, his eyes narrowing at you three, before turning around and walking off to find Uncle Mattie.

After glancing between Sealand and Pearl, you started laughing. The looks on their faces were priceless!

But, you didn't notice that you'd been slipping off the couch as well, and ended up falling onto the floor, face first, Pearl Harbor and Sealand following you down.

"That's it! Stop falling!" Pearl shouted, growling and sitting up. "It sucks getting stuck between you two when you fall..."

You groaned. "Try being crushed by the two of you..." you grumbled, leaning against the couch.

Sealand sighed, pulling off his sailor hat and fidgeting with it. "It's so boring around here! What do you do for fun?" he whined.

You thought for a minute, trying to come up with something. Well, you couldn't go upstairs, Uncle Mattie was in his study and demanded that you stay downstairs, so he could get a bunch of paperwork his boss had dropped on him, done. You couldn't go in the basement...there were...g-g-g-ghosts down there. No, you were NOT going to meet the ghosts that haunted the basement.

What else could you do?

Well, there was the forest...

A light bulb seemed to appear over your head and you jumped up. "I got it!"

Looking back over at your friends, you smiled. "There's the forest out back, right? We can make up our own kingdom, that only we can enter! Just like in this book I read, _Bridge to Terabithia._"

Sealand grinned. "That sounds like a lot of fun! C'mon, Kenzie, let's go!"

They were about to run out, but you stood in front of them.

"Woah! Slow down! If we're going to do this, we're going to need some supplies."

Running to the hall closet, you grabbed a backpack that you usually used for packing when you and Uncle Mattie would go camping, and ran to the kitchen. Then, you grabbed crackers, dried fruits, and three thermoses, filled with water. After this, you scrambled off to your book chest and grabbed your pencil case, a notebook, your journal, and an old, folded up map, shoving them into the bag, but keeping the map in your hand. Then, you put your hair in a ponytail, slid on your Yankees baseball cap, and grinning widely.

"Alright! Now we're ready."

And then, you three set out on your adventure.

**_- Time Skip - _**

You sighed softly, having easily located your old tree house by using your old map, and all of you were now settled into the place, having pulled out all the blankets from the Space bag storage packs they'd been in and spreading them out. The table had the cloth places back on it, the bed had the blankets and sheets put back on, after having blown up the matress, and the lanterns were lit.

The reason why the tree house was more...ah, luxurious than other tree houses was because you'd spent a lot of your time up here, and Uncle Mattie, Big Bruder Prussia, Ontario and you had all worked really hard on it. New York City had even pitched in a little to make the little tree house a sucess.

You heard Pearl sigh and stretch out on the bed, a big smile on her face. "This totally beats having to stay stuck in that boring house," she muttered.

"I'll agree with you on that one," Sealand said, pulling the food out of the back pack and putting it into the little cabinet you had in there.

"Alright guys! If we're going to make up our own world, we're going to need to draw a few things up!" The two kids hopped over, taking their seats at the table. You pulled out a pen and began to scribble across the paper, wording up a quick Constitution.

"Wait, what should we call our world?" you asked, looking up.

"How about Kealeo?" Pearl Harbor suggested.

You and Sealand smiled.

"I like it!" Peter said, giving her a shy smile.

"Alright, Kealeo it is!"

And you returned to your scribbling.

It took a while, about twenty minutes, to write it all up by hand, with your best handwriting and spelling, but it was eventually finished. It read:

_On this day of July Fourth, (insert any year you want), we sign this declaration and show that this territory, now called Kealeo, is it's own nation. This nation has been founded for people who need to be free, people who don't want to be bullied, judged, or discriminated. Anybody of any language can come here and become a citizen. The only thing required is an open mind, and an imagination. _

It went on for another page, but those first lines were what you really prided yourself on. After signing the papers, you went into your pencil case and pulled out a stamp. Placing the stamp in the top corner, you smiled seeing the Prussian Eagle stand out in deep black against the clean white page.

Then, you took your pen and, ah, altered the design a bit. You added a bit more color, using red, blue, white, and incorparated parts of the Hawaiian state flag, Sealand's flag, and the flag of the United States of America.

When it was done, you smiled widely.

"There. This tree house, and any forest for the next few square miles is our nation!"

All of you then laughed joyously, smiling with pride.

**_- Time Skip to Three Hours Later - _**

Mathew sighed, shutting his eyes. He heard the light patter of rain on the window and groaned. Why did it have to rain now? He had to get Pearl Harbor and Sealand to the airport...They were going to be picked up soon. That reminded him, he should probably go and check on them.

Before he could stand up, his phone rang. Raising an eyebrow as the song 'Kryptonite' by Three Doors Down began to play, he answered the phone, before checking the caller I.D.

"Hello?"

"Uh...Mattie? Bro? Is that you there?"

**_- At the Tree House - _**

You glanced outside, noticing that it was starting to rain.

"Hey, guys, we better head back!" you said, grabbing a rain pancho from the chest in the tree house, as well as grabbing the spares for Sealand and Pearl.

After putting them on, locking up the window, and cleaning up the tree house, which you had now decided to call the Headquarters, you made your way down the ladderand began running back toward the house, splashing in the mud puddles that formed.

Finally, you made it back inside, taking off your muddy shoes and sliding off the rain panchos.

"Uncle Mattie?" you called through the house, the silence that had settled a bit unnerving. "Uncle Mattie~?" you chimed again, now getting nervous.

Finally, you saw him scramble down the stairs, a wild look in his eyes. "Where have you been?!" he shouted, rushing over.

"I've been looking all over the house. You left without even leaving a note! Something...Something important has come up. We have to get you to New York, _now." _

You furrowed your brow in confusion. He was acting a bit strange...

"Come on, all of you, grab your stuff. (Y/n), grab your book chest and such."

The next bit of time went by in just a blur and, honestly, you didn't remember much of it. All you remember is boarding the plane and falling asleep, your head lying on Sealand's shoulder.

**_- Time Skip - _**

You sighed softly, rubbing your eyes. It was now about eight o' clock and the three of you, having spent your entire time at the tree house playing around and 'discovering new territory' for your country, were extremely tired. Sealand was struggling to keep his eyes open, Pearl Harbor had to be smacked upside the head every so often to wake her up and you had been caught dozing off once or twice.

The entire drive to where ever Uncle Mattie was taking you, he was very nervous and jumpy, constantly muttering to himself and shaking his head.

Finally, you pulled up to Daddy's old apartment, the rain some how also in New York, and falling a lot harder. It reminded you of that night...The night you said goodbye to Daddy.

Suddenly, you shook your head, banishing the thoughts. No, you thought, you'd swore to yourself that you wouldn't think of him anymore. For an entire year after he'd left, you'd been an emotional wreck, but you'd finally recovered, and you weren't going to slip back into the depression again.

When you pulled up, you noticed New York City pacing outside the front of the building, as well as Oregon, Alaska, Washington D.C, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas.

They all were soaked, but they didn't let it bother them. The moment your car pulled up, Washington D.C scrambled over. He was about seventeen years old, well built, with a kind smile but mischeivous eyes. It was as if he knew something you didn't, no matter what time it was. Uncle Mattie managed to get all of you out of the car, even though you were about to fall over.

"What happened? What took you so long?"

Mathew sighed and apologized. "They'd left while I was doing paper work and hadn't told me where they'd gone off to!" he exclaimed, glancing worriedly at the states gathered behind Washington. "H-How bad is he...?"

Washington sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Come on up, I'll show you."

He turned on his heel, walking back into the building, glancing at the other states and muttering something. They all quickly followed after you.

Your group took the all too familiar trip up the elevator to the pent house. When the doors pinged and parted, you heard the sound of the microwave going in the kitchen. The lights were all on and the apartment looked just as you remembered...homely.

"Hey, D-Dad, we're here!" D.C called out, visibly shaking.

A moment later, a figure stepped out of the arch that lead into the kitchen, and you cried out.

America was home.

He stood there, grinning that same playful grin he always had, his blue eyes carrying a hint of weariness. He wore only a pair of tan cargo shorts, revealing the bandages around one of his legs and the cast around the other, and his bomber jacket, showing the bandages that covered his torso. He stood uneasily on crutches, mostly supporting his weight on the wall, which he was leaning against.

Tears came to your eyes. He was home...After so many years, he was HOME. Even though he was beat up, you could look past that.

He was alive, he was home, and you weren't going to let him go anywhere.

His smile and his eyes softened when they landed on you.

"Hey, sweetheart."

That's what cracked you. You ran toward him, hugging him as soon as you reached him and burying your face in his shoulder, sobbing loudly. All of the emotions that had been pent up over the past nine years were let out. Every day of longing, every fear, every worry, every night spent singing that same song over and over in hopes of soothing the feeling of missing him...It was all let out.

He only hugged you back, using the only arm he could sacrifice at the time, and whispering soothing words in your ear, kissing the top of your head every now and then.

"Don't worry, darlin', I'm home to stay." he mumbled, smiling softly as you pulled your head out of his shoulder.

"Promise?"

"Promise," he whispered, whiping away the tears with his thumb.

You pulled him back into another hug.

"Daddy?"

"Hm?"

"I missed you," you whispered, your voice cracking.

"I missed you too, darlin'...More than you could ever imagine," he replied, his grip on you tightening.

And you felt his warm tears hit your cheeks...

**_'Cause you'll be in my heart_**

_**Yes, you'll be in my heart**_

**_ From this day on_**

_**Now and forever more **_

**_You'll be in my heart_**

**_No matter what they say_**

_**You'll be here in my heart, always **_

_**Always...**_


End file.
